


Spirits of Inkwell

by Alexander_Dsh



Category: Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: 1930s, AU, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Comfort, Drinking, Flashbacks, Gambling, Gen, Inspired By Tumblr, Inspired by Fanart, Mild Blood, Multi, Name Changes, Shapeshifting, Transformation, Vomiting, greed - Freeform, inspired by Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-06-24 07:53:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 33,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15626175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexander_Dsh/pseuds/Alexander_Dsh
Summary: An AU of Cuphead with the plot of Spirited Away - may the best anime movie of all times serve as a great inspiration for this work! More to be explained in the first chapter, so better read it ;)[Synopsis]A 20-year-old boy, named Neville, moves to the new life in Inkwell Isle 3 with his parents, but they happen to wander to the fourth Isle with the infamous Devil's Casino. His parents, led by their needs and feelings, end up being transformed. Neville, in a fit of determination, wants to save his parents by working at the Casino.Does he have what it takes? Or will he end up as the Devil's Imp?





	1. [PLEASE READ!!!] (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very important chapter to understand how will story proceed, so please read it!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for the elements that are important to understand the plot. Please read this chapter before jumping into the story!

Hello!

This is my first work that will come in multiple chapters, so please listen up.

This is the Cuphead AU that contains the plot of movie _Spirited Away_.

 _Spirited Away_ is the Japanese movie by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki from 2001. It became the most successful movie in Japanese history. The movie tells the story of Chihiro Ogino, a 10-year-old girl who enters the spirit world. After Yubaba, a witch that rules the bathhouse, turns her parents into pigs thanks to their greed, she asks for a job to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world.

In this AU, the story is told differently with my original character having the role of Chihiro, while the Devil holds the role of Yubaba.

The next chapter is where the story begins.

Below is a graphic display that shows who do the characters in the AU resemble in the movie. It includes several original characters, one of them created by an artist from DeviantArt. It's important for understanding the plot. The displayed cast lists the most important characters.

In the end, I want to say that I do not own:

  * _Spirited Away_ (property of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki)
  * _Cuphead_ (property of MDHR)
  * Fan-art that I didn't create, but used for inspiration.
  * I also do not own this brilliant blog on Tumblr by Brightgoat that this story is more or less based on. If you're interested, check it out. You won't regret ^^ ➡️ https://askcupsandcasinos.tumblr.com



Also, contains spoilers for the movie. If you are unfamiliar with it, I highly suggest it you stop here, watch it now and then proceed into the story.

Enjoy!

 

Sincerely, Alexander_Dsh

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have already watched the movie, you can jump into the story!


	2. A Boring Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neville Montgomery has recently graduated as an A student. Due to his parents' business and for him to be able to work, they move to Inkwell Isle 3 and happen to stumble upon something that is about to change everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you find a FNAF reference, a reference to one of Queen's songs and a meme (sorry not sorry kek) slightly changed to fit the 1930s style, I'll give you my folder where I keep the dank stuff
> 
> Enjoy!

 

 

> Goodbye, Neville. We will surely miss you :(  
>  Don't forget to call or visit ;)
> 
> Sincerely,  
>  Molly

 

That was the goodbye card in the gift basket from his friend. Wait, what is even happening?

 

 

Oh, here we go.

 

He slowly moved the basket away from his face and hardly opened the eyes, the bright sun striking them. God knows how long he has slept for, but now he could clearly make out the blue sky with a cloud here and there, meadows and houses all around... there was even a mountain and a castle in the distance.

 

Sorry, didn't introduce him. His name is **Neville Montgomery** , a brilliant, rational 20-year-old who has recently graduated. He was moving to Inkwell Isle 3 with his parents, **Alexander** and **Tanya**.

 

Neville was laying on the back seat, wearing expression "how much longer is this ride going to take". He was clutching a round, straw basket with a red ribbon, full of various gifts, photos and other stuff his friends gave him before the journey.

 

Maxwell, his a-bit-younger friend, gifted him a few sticks of cheese-flavored butter with a note "Your favorites!"

 

Speaking of butter...

Scent of cheese filled the back of the car. Neville flinched, then lightly shook the basket. 

"Mum, the butter is melting!", he yelped in discomfort.

"And I told you to hold the basket upwards", she replied, bothered. "Don't worry, we're not far away from the house now. We will just put the butter in the fridge and it will be okay."

Neville's mother was a tailor and slightly stern woman. Though, she was stern mostly if she was bothered or in a bad mood, otherwise she was a friendly woman, always in a mood for talk or a cup of tea. She was also kind of a flapper and able to defeat even the strongest men.

 

Neville's face wrinkled in boredom as he sat back.

"My first giftbasket for farewell even... this is so depressing, gramophone, play _St James Infirmary Blues_...", he murmured.

"And what about "The Diamonds" shirt dad made you for your birthday?", she asked.

During the trip, Neville was wearing a mahogany colored plaid shirt. The shirt had three, sawed-in diamonds in orange, green and yellow, as an emblem on his chest. Dad made it with a lot of help from mum, and the three diamonds resembled the underground society Alexander used to be part of, mostly related to gambling. The society was named "The Diamonds".

Neville didn't really like that his father was into those dangerous and mysterious things, but he couldn't do anything about it. And, good golly, Neville is 20 now and he is an adult, yet he is laying in the back of the car like a sitting duck, hot and bothered.

"Also  _gambling_ vest when I thought that's dangerous, please", Neville groaned in fatigue. In the childhood, he had to be pretty careful about standing up to his father's habits, visibly disliking his interest in gambling. But now he was an adult. Time for everything to come out of his mouth. Okay, maybe not.

"You dropped Molly's card", mum said, giving him a beige farewell card written by his friend Molly. "I'll open the window. And please quit whining, it's an adventure moving to a new place."

The car swiftly passed through a checkpoint shaped like a die to Inkwell Isle 3, a really urbanized place compared to past two isles.

 

**SPIRITS OF INKWELL**

 

After landing on the island, they reached a large, wooden gate.

"Wait", Alexander murmured. "Did I take the wrong turn? This is weird..."  
"Look, there's our house", Tanya pointed at a cream building with red roof in the distance.  
"You're right, I must've missed the turnoff. If this is the shortcut, I'm on it!", Alexander said with confidence.  
"Honey, you always get us lost", Tanya face palmed.

What caught Neville's attention was a rather large, dark blue mountain further away from their current location. If he wasn't wrong, he would tell you that there was a sign on it, but from here he couldn't make out of what did it say.  
Neville sat back as his dad entered the prosperous area of the city. He was gradually speeding up.  
"Dad, I think that we should slow down", Neville exclaimed nervously.  
"Don't worry, just sit back", he replied.  
The car was speeding through the city. It was quick so Neville couldn't clearly make out of the signs on window displays and even the people. On the other hand, people, most of them appearing as anthropomorphic objects and animals, were looking in the direction of the car and flinching at how fast it was going.  
"Alex, slow down before you kill us all!", mum shouted sternly. Neville would scold him even more. His dad was a few years younger than his wife, and his son could hardly find that to be a reason for his father becoming Mr. Fahrenheit in Inkwell Isle 3. At this point even Neville would regret stating that the backseat belts are useless.  
The car even outran some of the Bumblebees, famous units of Rumor Honeybottoms' justice orders.

And then, the car literally bounced over the tracks right in front of the cave due to the speed. Luckily, no one was hurt, but they had to turn back and reach the house.  
Both Neville and Tanya looked at Alexander, fuming, while he was making a poker face.  
"Well, that was one hell of a ride, but I apo-", he started before cutting himself off.  
The car stopped right in front of the entrance to the cave, which turns out to belong to the mountain Neville saw earlier.

Wide, red stairs led inside. Above the cave, there were, from left to right, sculptures of club, diamond and heart from playing cards with "WELCOME" sign, each letter embedded on a circular plate. Below, there was a board styled into an arrow pointing down, reading "CASINO ENTRANCE".  
Looking down, Neville could see "TRY ⭐ YOUR ⭐ LUCK" engraved in ground. He felt something inauspicious.

During Neville's life, he was told the stories about a casino at the very end of Inkwell Isle, owned by the Devil himself. His father _was_ a gambling man, but had never visited the Devil's Casino.  
Alexander exited the car and inspected the cave entrance. Tanya prodded her head out through the window in anger.  
"Honey, we're going to be late!"  
Neville left the giftbasket in the car as he got out of it and ran up to his father. Mum face palmed.

Neville's father inspected the stone of the cave and looked at something bright coming deeply from the other side. Neville felt the wind rustling through his black pants, sending him an uneasy feeling. Mum walked up to them.  
"Come on, let's go in, I want to see what's on the other side!", Alexander exclaimed.  
"I'm not going!", Neville yelped. "Let's go back, it gives me the creeps."  
"Don't be such a scaredy cat", dad teased him. "Let's just take a look."  
Mum sighed in displeasure.  
"The movers van will arrive before we do!", she said.  
"It's alright", dad replied. "They've got the keys, so they can start without us."  
"Forget it, I'm not going!", Neville shouted, running back to the car and crossing arms.  
"Come on, there's nothing to be afraid of", dad said calmly.  
"No, I... prefer it here", Neville said, trying to shake off the feeling of menace.

He looked the other way up to the mountain. Then, he realized that the direction of his sight had locked with the eyes of something ominous. It had a round head, huge eyes, tiny horns and ears. It looked at him with narrow pupils before disappearing behind the rock.  
Neville cringed to what he has just seen, but then noticed his parents were walking into the cave.  
"Neville, just wait in the car", mum said.  
"But", he began. But then he looked back at the rock that the weird creature from before had been hiding at. Feeling scared, he followed them inside.  
"Wait for me!", he shouted, running into the cave after them.


	3. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three stumble upon the Devil's Casino. Neville's parents are astonished, but the boy himself feels something ominous will happen.
> 
> What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second official chapter of the day... would you guys prefer if the release of the chapters was more frequent or one chapter on each few days?
> 
> Also the first appearance of King Dice ^.^

Neville, his mum and dad were walking through the cave they have just entered. Still having a bad feeling about this whole situation, the young lad rest his hand behind his mum, leaning on her. She was visibly bothered with both her husband and her son.  
"Honey, don't lean on me like that, we'll both fall", she said slightly pushing him away.

The three reached the light source and they had what to see.  
In front of them was a huge building, reminiscent of a castle — this was 100% surely the Devil's Casino. The long, red carpet led in through the door with yellow stained glass. On both sides of the staircase, there were six dice, each sporting a different number. The sides of the casino's yard were different; the left one resembled the lounge for relaxation, it had a few palm trees, two couches and a fountain. The right side was only different by having a huge tower with its own red carpet. It was also connected to the main building by a bridge.  
The roof had huge, three sculptures of chess pieces, and between them, a gargoyle-looking creature, resembling a demon. It had a wide grin and it was resting its hands on poker chips on the roof. The sign at the entrance was shaped similar to the window in Islamic style and acted as a label saying "CASINO". There were also four playing cards atop the label, each one having one of the four main symbols.

"What is this place?", Neville asked.  
"Do you hear that?", his mother exclaimed, putting her hand next to her ear.  
One could hear faint jazz music in the direction of the casino.  
"It sounds like music!", Neville said gleefully.  
"This must be some sort of an establishment", mum replied.  
"Come on, let's go check it out", dad said.

The three walked closer to the entrance and now the building seemed gigantic. They stopped.

"This must be the casino at the end of the island they all talk about!", dad optimistically said. "There are a lot of rumors about what's going on in there, like how people had literally lost their souls or it being owned by the Devil himself."  
Neville stayed in place as, much to his shock, both of his parents began strolling to the entrance.  
"Where are you going? You said it will only be a quick look! Now let's go back!", Neville shouted.  
He stood anxiously waiting for a response.  
"Hey!", he yelled, but to no avail.  
Suddenly, wind circled around his body, bottom to the top. He felt like this was a sign that something, definitely anything but good, will happen.

They walked up the stairs. Alexander helped Tanya on the last step.  
"Let's not waste time", the former exclaimed, opening the door.  
"Hurry up, Neville!", the latter shouted, following the former.  
"One second!", a reluctant Neville said.

They were greeted by a skeleton wearing a green tuxedo, a light pink tie and a dark green fedora hat with mallow flower.  
"Welcome to the Devil's Casino! Please enjoy your stay."

The three entered an atmosphere full of fainted and excited yelling, the scent of alcohol and serene jazz music. Neville's parents looked astonished.  
Neville, on the other hand, held on his stomach as if he was feeling nauseous. There was something dangerous related to this place and he knew that. He didn't sit with his parents at the bar. He just elbowed himself on the radiator.  
Alexander grabbed a martini glass while Tanya drank a cocktail.  
"This is amazing!", latter exclaimed blissfully. "Neville, try this, you are an adult after all!"  
He just nervously shook his head.  
"No, I'm fine! Let's go, we can get in trouble!"  
There weren't many people, but he was still worried. His parents were visibly into doing things against his will, and didn't think about what could go wrong.  
"No need to worry while we're here", dad said without any sign of concern in his voice. "Why don't you just look around instead? We maybe go and play something."  
Well, Neville could do that.

"A-alright, just don't do anything s-stupid", he stammered, walking away.

On his way across the casino, Neville was trying to make sure he couldn't make an eye contact with anyone, both from fear and from humans being a rarity on Inkwell Isle.  
He opened the door leading to a bridge. He realized that it was the bridge connecting the main building to the huge tower seen earlier. He didn't want to look directly down; he has already observed at what height he is when he observed the cave. He also carefully looked at the landscape behind the casino and faced the mountainous, cloudy land. He didn't want to think about what was that place.  
After taking one more look at the sight before him, he turned away to someone standing on the bridge, making an eye-contact and both shocking each other.

Neville's eyes met with a dapper figure, one foot taller than him. He had a slim build and a die for a head. He wore lavender shoes, dark violet pants, a light lavender vest and white shirt, a dark violet bow tie and a purple tailcoat. Left side of his tailcoat had a yellow emblem with a heart symbol and a crown. His nose was purple, flat and round like cabochon, acting as number one on dice. He had a thin moustache and his eyes were wide, looking at him with shock.  
Judging by all of this, he was someone important and he knew something crucial.  
Shadows slowly began appearing with the sun setting outside of the cave.  
The man walked towards Neville.  
"You shouldn't be here. Get out of here, now!", he shouted.  
"What?"  
"It's almost night. Leave before it gets dark!"  
The lights on the main building slowly turned on. At this point, the die-headed man didn't hesitate.  
"You've got to get out of this place! I'll distract them!", he pushed him back through the door.

Running through the casino, Neville noticed the establishment getting busier, with many workers and patrons coming in. With his heart pounding wildly, he reached the bar where his parents were supposed to be.  
"Mum, dad, where are you?", he shouted, noticing a piece of paper saying "Off to play Craps". His jaw dropped.  
Running off to the nearest Craps table, Neville founds his parents, but slightly... different.  
"Dad, mum, we've been here long enough, let's go now!", he exclaimed, shaking his dad's arm.

Alexander looked at Neville and revealed that his skin was slowly turning violet. His eyes would sent chills, half-closed and with thin pupils. His grin was wide and his teeth were sharper than they were supposed to be.  
By just looking at this, Neville cringed in shock. Tanya wasn't any different.  
"T-talk to me!", he shouted, visibly terrified.  
Then, a bulky imp came, probably being a member of security. He just grabbed his drunk and sick parents under his arms and walked away.  
Neville's breathing rapidly increased. He flinched and began running.  
The place was full of unfamiliar faces that could harm him any time. He decided it was time for him to give all he's got and escape.  
On his way through, he bumped in a few staff members, who just looked at him, not knowing what has just happened.

(read the few next paragraphs with [this](https://vimeo.com/46299860))

Then, Neville dashed through the front door, but stopped.  
"I-I can't just leave them behind...", he wailed. "I don't know what to do..."  
His eyes locked on many patrons slowly walking to the entrance while chatting and his eyes widened.  
Seems that the procession began.

Neville stared in disbelief.  
"I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming!", he yelped in stress, holding on his head. "Come on, wake up!"  
He sat on the floor, helplessly wailing.  
"It's just a dream... Go away... Just a dream... Parry it away... Go away... Disappear...", he whimpered.  
Then, the tip of his shoes slowly began fading away and turning pink.  
And then he looked at his hands which began fading too. He got up and cringed.  
"I'm see-through!", he screamed.  
"It's a dream, it has to be a dream!"  
Then he noticed the patrons entering the casino.

The patrons were many anthropomorphic objects, animals, and no humans were in the procession. They were all dressed for evening opportunities, and none of them noticed the terrified boy standing.

Neville just yelled in distress and stumbled over the dice at the staircase, falling in the lounge area. He hid next to the wall and a couch.

Soon after, someone came and crouched next to him. It was the die-headed man. He wrapped his tailcoat around his waist and grabbed Neville by the shoulders. The poor boy flinched.  
"Don't worry", he said calmly. "I just want to help you."  
"No", Neville panted, "No, no!"  
The man moved his right arm from Neville's shoulder and opened his hand, holding a pink, tiny sugar cube.  
"You've got to eat something, or else you'll disappear."  
"No!", the boy cried, and slammed his arms into the man, trying to push him away, but...  
Neville didn't feel anything as he looked that, to his horror, his arms phased through the die-headed man.  
"Don't worry, I won't turn you into an imp", he said, putting the sugar cube in Neville's mouth. "Chew and swallow."  
The boy hardly swallowed the sugar cube, but it was enough.  
"There you go, see for yourself", the man said, splaying his hand in front of him.  
Neville rest his hand on the stranger's, fully touching it.

The man got up and tried to pull Neville up as well, but the boy yelped in distress.  
"Wait! What about my parents? They didn't really turn into imps, did they?  
"You can't see them at the moment, but you will be able to soon."  
He looked up at the ceiling of the cave and quickly collapsed to the wall, covering Neville.  
"Don't move", he ordered.  
A bat was searching the area, stopping at every few seconds and observing the ground. It looked skeptic, but then flew to the tower.  
"That bat is looking for you", he said. "Let's get out of here."  
"Ah, my legs, I can't stand up! Help...", Neville shrieked when the die tried to pull him up. Something was wrong with his lower limbs. He just couldn't feel them.  
"Calm down, take a deep breath", the man said, taking a playing card out of his pocket. He slapped his thigh with the card. It felt like slapping the sore skin, but it was worth it because Neville could stand up again.  
"Hold on tight."

Then, the die-headed man took a fast step ahead, pulling Neville by the hand. His plan was to reach the entrance the other way around.


	4. There's a Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The casino becomes aware of Neville's presence and goes into a commotion. On the other hand, the mysterious die-headed man has some instructions for the boy to survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of all things to startle a human... cymbals (not sorry lol)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy ^^

The die-headed man and Neville reached the staircase. It was full of many patrons coming for a tonight experience. The air was filled with greetings from the staff and chattering.

The man pulled his tailcoat on and put his arm on the boy's shoulder and led him to the staircase.  
"Hold your breath as long as you're climbing the stairs", he warned. "Even the tiniest breath will break the charm and everyone will be able to see you."

Neville's heart was racing against him as he gained an anxious look.  
"I'm worried", he murmured.  
"No need to be", the man replied.

"Welcome, it's always nice to see you!", the two skeletons cheered to the patrons.  
"Welcome back, **King Dice**!", one of them said.  
"I'm back from a task", the man replied.

So, it turns out that the name of the man who was trying to help Neville is King Dice. He had no idea what was his position in the casino, but it had to be a high one.  
As they were reaching the first step on the staircase, Dice gave Neville a sign.

"Take a deep breath", he ordered.  
Neville's mouthline shortened awkwardly while his cheeks inflated and became rosy. He took a deep breath.  
"Hold it!"

Dice and Neville were slowly making their way upstairs. At this point, Neville's heart could practically pound right out of his chest from all the fear he felt while surrounded by unfamiliar creatures.  
Halfway through, Neville almost stopped holding his breath when a pink mass, repeatedly dissipating and churning, with a spooky face, looked at him.  
This creature was looking like a ghost and had hollow eyes. It was frowning.

"Hang on, we're almost there", Dice said.

Neville felt relief coursing through his body as they were reaching the end of the staircase. But at that moment, he spotted something: a peculiar staff member, a short monkey toy, ran out through the doors. He was wearing a white Panama hat with red stripe, a sleeveless, turquoise shirt and red and white striped shorts. It had a pair of cymbals.  
The monkey ran in on Neville and Dice and jumped in the air, banging his cymbals which shocked the boy's ears.

"Welcome back, Mr. King Dice! **Mr. Chimes** at your service!", the monkey cried gleefully. He didn't notice Neville at all, but...

Neville, in a state of shock, gasped, but quickly covered his mouth for what Dice ordered him earlier. However, it was too late.

Mr. Chimes looked up at Neville, his mouth and blank eyes widening from shock.  
"A HUMAN?!", he gasped.

Dice suddenly slammed a pink, transparent object on Mr. Chimes. It was a pink die and it trapped Mr. Chimes like in a bubble, spinning rapidly.  
"Get ready!"  
And then, he made a quick stepping move and a spin, creating a hole underneath him, pulling Neville in. The hole quickly disappeared, yet that didn't stop the commotion.  
Patrons were hollering with surprise and the fact that a human was there. They began running around in panic.  
The bubble shaped like a die that Mr. Chimes was trapped in popped. He was stunned but, thankfully, unaware of what had happened while in the bubble.

Dice and Neville teleported through the hole to the roof. They could hear the yelling sounds from the inside of the casino, coming from the patrons that were running wildly and in panic.  
Neville could easily make out the screams and squawks of patrons and staff:

"King Dice!"  
"Where is King Dice?"  
"Catch them!"  
"A human intruder!"  
"I can sense humans!"  
"This revolting smell comes from a human, doesn't it?!"

"They know you're here", Dice whispered.  
"I'm sorry", Neville whispered back, "I breathed in..."  
"No need to apologize, Neville", he replied. "You did amazing. Now listen carefully to what you need to do. Ya can't stay here, they'll find ya, and ya won't get to rescue your parents. I'm the manager, I can just occupy them with-"  
"N-no, don't leave me here all alone!", Neville clung on his tailcoat.

Dice slowly, but gently, pushed him away.  
"Ya really don't have any choice if ya wanna help your parents."  
Neville calmed down and looked in Dice's eyes with disbelief. His eyes now had a piercing shade of green, which was a sign that he was actually serious.  
"So... they did turn into imps, I wasn't dreaming", Neville sighed.

"Don't ya worry", Dice replied, taking another card out of his pocket and tucking it under boy's armpit. Then he pressed Neville's shoulder against the card, firmly clenching it. He gave him the instructions of what to do next and Neville could see it all. This man literally had powers only using his playing cards.

"When the commotion quiets down, go behind and this way to the back of the roof. Go all the way down the stairs and you will reach the incinerators area, where the heat and supplies are provided. Down there, you will find **Mr. Wheezy** , its manager."  
He slid the card out of Neville's armpit.

"Mr. Wheezy?", the boy asked.  
Dice nodded.

"Tell him ya want to work here at the casino. Even if he refuses, you must insist! If you don't get a job, then you'll surely get exposed and the Big Boss will turn you into an object."

"The _Big Boss_?", Neville asked and bent his eyebrows in confusion.  
"The nickname for the **Devil** himself, who is our main boss", Dice replied. "Mr. Wheezy will refuse to give you a job and try to trick you into leaving, but keep asking him. It ain't gonna be an easy job, but you will be given the status of a worker. Then not even the Big Boss can hurt you."  
Neville just nodded.

The boy could still hear the screams of the people inside of the casino, calling Dice for help.

"I have to go now, good luck." Dice stood up and prepared to warp into the casino. "And don't forget, Neville, I'm your friend."

Before he left, Neville had stopped him.

"Wait a minute, how did you know my name?", the boy asked Dice.  
Dice smiled and replied: "I have known you ever since you were just a child."  
Neville didn't exactly know what he meant by that.

King Dice disappeared through his hole.

After he was gone, Neville waited for a moment before slowly crawling over to the back of the roof.

Neville found himself on a marble platform. Advancing slowly, he reached the long stairway going down the main building. The stairway was laying above the mountainous landscape he has seen earlier and was connected to the building. There weren't any railings, so... he would tell you this could be a one-way ticket to his doom.

To make sure he climbs down safely, Neville decided to go step by step, by slowly, but surely, sitting from each stair step until he would reach the bottom.  
He knew this was ridiculous due to how long the stairway was, but he didn't want to risk. Looking down just sent him chills.

On the fifth step, Neville, in fear, slowly shoved his foot on the next stair step to examine if it's firm. It seemed to be perfectly in order and he stood up fully and decided to keep going down, but then-

 **XBHJCHGVSDA** (okay is this really my only way to describe the onomatopoeia of wood breaking)

The stair step broke and Neville found himself stumbling down the stairs. Thankfully, he avoided falling by quickly managing to stand up, but this was not the end.  
Neville had only reached a few steps when he began this heck of a ride. What was next was that he was, extremely fast, running like a madman down the stairs, screaming at the top of his lungs. His eyes were wide in fear, and he just couldn't seem to slow down unless he wanted to hurt himself.  
And then, at the bottom of the stairway-  
_BOOF_.  
Neville's face met with the wall. He was breathing rapidly, never feeling so worked up like that before. Let's see what happened to his nose.  
Luckily, he wasn't hurt, but he had to quickly keep going to avoid being seen by a patron exhaling a puff of smoke through a window.

It took a few more steps until Neville reached the incinerators area. He took a look at a huge, iron door with a window.  
He slowly turned the handle around and stepped inside, closing the door after him.


	5. Mr. Wheezy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neville meets a man resembling a cigar that is the manager of the incinerators area. Which way will Neville go from here next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this taking a long time to upload, I'm on the vacation.  
> But I will try to update it regularly ^^
> 
> Also, the first appearance of Mr. Wheezy and Arin! (that female worker seen in the cast list in the guide chapter)

Closing the doors after himself, Neville felt the heat hit his face as he entered the hallway to the incinerators room. Sounds of steam pistons could be heard and it was so hot that the boy wanted to discard his shirt... but he wanted to stay decent enough.  
Remembering Dice's instructions, he walked further into the hallway, full of pressure pipes and hygiene equipment. There was also a blue door on one side, indicating that it's the freezer room for whatever it was stored there. Neville took a look through its window, but it was too cloudy. He proceeded through the hallway.

Then, Neville reached the incinerators room.  
It was a huge room with several boilers and pipes, including a real fire pit. Behind these pieces of machinery, there was a mural depicting the casino patrons seemingly smoking and having drinks. The other half of the room had a wooden floor and shelves filled with various ingredients for scent. Neville wasn't really sure what were they for, but it probably had to do with supplying.  
Little sentient cigarettes, characteristic by their tiny eyes, horns and demon wings, flied up from the bottom a shaft in the wooden floor, carrying little rocks of coal to the fire pit, establishing the heat. On the other hand, the machines were functioning thanks to Mr. Wheezy.

Mr. Wheezy was a cigar that had a brown body, torn and rounded at the top, revealing the burnt tobacco. His nose resembled a burnt cigar and he had yellow eyes and teeth. He was wearing a long, beaver-colored leather jacket, its sleeves and hoodie sporting light gray faux fur. He wore black pants and shoes. Mr. Wheezy was wearing black gloves.

He was sitting on a high chair, constantly moving a stick resembling a paddle back and forth, seemingly working with the machines, and from time to time lighting a cigar for himself. He was honestly looking like a pretty serious man. And somehow he wasn't sweating in that jacket.

Neville cringed from both the smell of tobacco and fear, but he knew this wasn't time for hesitation. It was time to become determined, to ask this strict cigar for a job, or to get even more determined by being rejected.

Suddenly, Mr. Wheezy, looking down at his cigarette minions, banged a mallet four times, to which all the cigarettes returned to shaft. Then he looked into he hallway, startling Neville. However, the boy realized that Mr. Wheezy wanted to question him about his arrival, so he slowly stumbled into the room.

Neville decided to speak up.  
"Erm... excuse me...", he began.

Mr. Wheezy gave no reply as he cleaned the wooden table next to him. Neville walked closer until he reached the chair.

"Hello, are you Mr. Wheezy?", the boy asked.

To this question, Mr. Wheezy bent his head down for his eyes to meet Neville's. They were slanted with feeling of inspection and ominousness, his yellow scleras and sharp pupils staring through him.

Neville, feeling confused and startled, spat it out.  
"King Dice told me to come here so I can ask for work, could you give me a job, please?"

Suddenly, three ringing noises were heard, dropping three poker chips, two red and one blue. Mr. Wheezy examined them.  
"Damn it all...", he grumbled, taking his little mallet and banging it against the wood. "C'mon, time for work you little twerps!" His voice was slightly raspy.  
Neville looked at the shaft as the cigarette minions began exiting it. Mr. Wheezy began speaking again.  
"Yeah, I'm Mr. Wheezy, slave to 'em incinerators and supply rooms. Move it, ya little good for nothings!", he gestured at the minions.

"Please, I've got to get a job here!", Neville shouted.  
"I got all the help I need", Mr. Wheezy replied. "The place is full of ashes and cigarettes, just do a little bit of magic and there ya have it."

As the cigarettes made their way to the fire pit, Neville moved aside not to hurt any of them.

One of the minions' way was cut short by Neville's foot. It looked up at the boy.  
"Oh, sorry...", Neville said, lifting his foot up. The minion continued its way.

However, by accident, a few more cigarettes have gathered at the area. Neville, losing his balance, jumped to the other side and stood up next to the shaft.  
The shaft was scented with a red hot smell of tobacco to which Neville tried to hold his breath, but unsuccessfully.

Mr. Wheezy snapped his fingers and a bigger cigarette minion flied up to him.  
"Give 'em more orange and beer yeast", he whispered to the cigarette.  
The cigarette flied quickly in the hallway and got back after a few seconds, holding a basket full of oranges. Then, it flew up to a shelf reading "Saccharomyces" and it took one little box of whatever was inside the shelf, then gave them all to Mr. Wheezy.

Mr. Wheezy put them both in a wide basket and pulled the rope connected to it, sending it up in an unknown location, then retracting the recently sent poker chips.

Then, Neville noticed a minion losing control and having a coal rock smash its body, helplessly flapping its wings. Other minions didn't care as they practically moved from its direction.

The boy stood up and lifted the coal rock. It was heavy, but thankfully the traumatized cigarette managed to reform and it quickly retreated to the shaft.

"But what should I do with this?", Neville asked.

He looked at the minions, waiting for an answer, but they just ignored him.

"Uh, should I leave it here?", he asked again, slightly concerned.

Mr. Wheezy grumbled to Neville's questions.  
"Finish what ya started, human."

Neville gazed at Wheezy in concern, but decided not to give up.

Giving all the strength he had, the boy walked slowly but surely to the fire pit. The minions moved out of the way as they and Mr. Wheezy observed this.  
At the edge of the wooden floor Neville, panting intensely, flinched and threw the coal rock into the fire, backing away and rubbing his forehead from sweat and tugging on the collar of his shirt.

All the minions looked up at Neville in curiosity. Then, one of them suddenly and voluntarily dropped the coal rock on itself. Soon, all of them began doing the same, to which Neville cringed and Mr. Wheezy face palmed.

Suddenly, the commotion stopped as Mr. Wheezy literally fumed, fire gushing out through his head, startling Neville.  
" **HEY, YA GOOD-FOR-NOTHIN' TWERPS, DO YOU WISH TO TURN BACK INTO THE CIGARETTES?!** ", he yelled, banging with his mallet.  
He turned to Neville, less irritated, but cross, pointing at him with the mallet.  
"And you, back off! Ya can't take someone else's job. If they ain't get no work done, the spell wears off and they turn back into the cigarettes."

He motioned his mallet away from him, gesturing towards the door. "No job for ya in this room, try somewhere else."

The cigarettes looked down on Neville, slanting their eyes in anger and ranting in unintelligible words. They began piling up the coal rocks on Neville's feet as Mr. Wheezy sighed with anger.  
"Ya got some kind of problem, cigars?", he asked. "Now get to work!"

Then the low door on the other side of the room opened and a female voice was heard, saying:

"M'kay, time for you to eat!"

It was a being that heavily resembled a human. She had bronze complexion and medium brown, scapula length feathered hair with black horns. She was wearing black shoes, denim pants, a dark gray vest under a white shirt with cuffed sleeves and a purple tie. The woman had a pair of black arthritis gloves.

She was holding a basket and a bowl and crawled through the door.

"You and your minions fightin' again?", she asked and walked up to Wheezy.  
She looked at the table and sighed.  
"Wheezy, where's your last soup bowl, from yesterday?", she asked, giving him the one she was holding.  
"I'll find it later", he replied taking the bowl and pulling a spoon out of a drawer. "Time to eat, cigs!"

Suddenly, all the cigarette minions that had gathered around Neville let go of the coal rocks and rushed to the other side, forming a crowd.

The woman crouched next to them, sunk her hand into the basket and threw the food for the minions on floor as they catched it here and there.

Their food was looking peculiar, it was certainly one type of a sweet, a very weird one, to be exact... It were many shapeless little crumbs in black, gray and white, resembling the ashes. Minions were catching them gleefully.

Suddenly, the woman looked at Neville and he looked back, both shocking each other.

"A human!", she yelled, poiting at him. "You're in trouble, you're the one everyone's looking for!"

As Wheezy sipped his soup, he spoke.  
"He's my grandson."  
"A grandson?!", the woman asked. Wheezy nodded.  
"He's askin' for a job, but I got all the help I need. Won't you take him to the Big Boss? They will surely reach a compromise."  
"No way!", the woman scoffed, throwing another handful of cigarettes food. "Ain't gonna risk my life."

Wheezy took a fresh cigar of brand "Nat Sherman". She stared at what he had in his hand.  
"How 'bout this fresh cigar? Eh?", he asked. She slightly blushed and rolled her eyes.

Mr. Wheezy turned to Neville.  
"If ya want to get a job, you'll have to make a deal with the Devil. He is the Big Boss here."

The woman grabbed the cigar Wheezy handed out.  
"Okay", she grumbled, dropping all that was left in the basket on the floor. "Better follow me, little boy."

Neville almost tripped over coal while getting out of that pile the cigars had buried him in.

"Can't ya reply with 'Yes, ma'am' or 'Thanks'?", she scorned.  
"Y-yes, ma'am", Neville muttered.

She got a good step ahead of him and found another chance to scoff.  
"Ya so slow...", she said rolling her eyes.  
"Yes, ma'am!", Neville stammered, stumbling after her.

The woman slowly got into to the low door she came in through. Neville crouched to get through, but she stopped him from coming in.  
"Ain't you even gonna thank Mr. Wheezy? Ya know he's pretty busy and bothered", she said with boredom.

Neville instinctively stood up, accidentally hitting his head, to which the woman face palmed.  
"T-thank you, Mr. Wheezy!", he stammered.

Mr. Wheezy turned around and gave an "OK" sign of approval.  
"Good luck!"

Neville crawled in through the door and closed it.


	6. Through the Casino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arin guides Neville towards the Devil's office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very short and tells the scene of going all the way from the incinerators room to the Devil's office. The next one will be the debut of the Devil ^^
> 
> Also, a good ol' flower is here to help.

Neville and the woman took a few more steps after crawling through the door into a very complex room. The walls had visible gears and machines working full steam ahead.

"The Devil lives in a tower up there", the woman said. "We'll take an elevator."

As the woman walked in one of the elevators, Neville gazed around and realized that he is walking through the elevator shafts. Elevators were fully visible, going up and down, carrying patrons and staff.

"Are ya comin'?", she asked.  
"Uh, yes, ma'am!", Neville replied, stumbling into the elevator. The woman pressed one of the buttons and the elevator began going upwards.

Neville was having a close encounter with the wall (Neville what in the world are you doing are you trying to shave your nose). The woman rolled her eyes, unamused.  
"Tryin' to cut off your nose, ain't you?"  
To this, the boy instantly moved himself away from the wall, flustered.

The elevator made its way to the first floor above the incinerators room. The woman walked out with Neville following her behind.  
As they were walking, Neville was trying to cover himself, but no one in passing did seem to care about a human walking through the casino.  
The woman and Neville entered another elevator and went higher to the main floor.

When the elevator reached its destination, they had what to see.

It was a sentient carnation flower with orange petals and green stem. Its hands were leaves and he had a gloomy look in his eyes. The woman smiled awkwardly.  
"Oh! **Cagney Carnation**!", she grinned.  
"Does this elevator go any higher?", the flower asked.  
"Sorry, it doesn't", she replied and took a quick step out of the elevator with Neville wrapping his arm around hers behind. Cagney looked in their direction and began following them.

Neville made his way with the woman through a prosperous area. It was the main area of the casino. It had indigo colored floor, mint green walls, white ceiling and huge pillars rising from the floor. The ceiling had golden decorations, the spaces between having paintings of night sky. The casino was fully busy, many patrons having a time with drinks, gambling and sealing their deals. Neville felt like he was totally not part of this atmosphere.

He looked back and noticed Cagney.  
"He's following us", he whispered.  
"Just stay calm", the woman replied.

The woman and Neville have reached another elevator in function with Cagney and waited for it to open.  
"This is the main area!", a purple imp in a white, short-sleeved shirt and a black bow tie instructed a few patrons gleefully, walking with them out of the elevator. "Bars are this direction, games here and there..."  
For this time, Cagney and Neville entered the elevator first.  
Then, the imp stopped guiding the patrons and sniffed the air.  
" **Arin**?", he asked the woman (yay we took this long to introduce her name _ecks dee_ ).  
"Ugh, what?", she scoffed.  
"Is that a human smell...?"

He walked closer and sniffed her from the bottom to the top.  
"Y-yeah, totally human, you smell like a human!", he chuckled and made a smug. "It smells somewhat mesmerizing too..."  
"Was this what you were looking for?", Arin asked, taking out the cigar Mr. Wheezy gave her earlier.  
The imp's eyes widened as he tried to grab the cigar, Arin moving her hand higher out of his reach.  
"Arin, gimme, please I haven't had any in a while!", he begged, jumping to reach her hands.  
Neville observed this whole thing from behind Cagney, while a few patrons in passing gave a look to them.

"Cagney, to go up, press the button!", Arin yelled.  
Cagney didn't react, for both Neville and him knew that Arin was trying not to expose the boy. Neville, trying to move unnoticed, pressed one of two buttons.  
"At least let me bite the end!", the imp begged while the door closed.

Then, Arin tucked the cigar between her teeth, the imp looking at her with defeat while she had a victorious expression.

In the meantime, the elevator was going up with dead silence between Cagney and Neville. The latter, curious, look up at the former. Cagney, however, with a tired expression, looked down and met Neville's eyes, to which the boy turned away.

The elevator reached the floor full of hallways and doors with various decorations. These seemed to be the staff rooms. Cagney pressed another button and they went a bit higher.

Finally, they reached the lobby to the Devil's office. Cagney gestured his hand to let Neville know they have reached their destination.

"Good luck", Cagney said, then closed the elevator doors.

Well, it was now or never.


	7. A Deal with the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neville meets the Devil and tries to make a deal.

Neville looked around the lobby. It was a square room with a huge red and golden carpet over the marble floor. It had four pillars, each one for a corner of the room. The windows had large red curtains with golden sash weights.  
There was a huge, golden door in the middle, having an "L" engraved on it. Probably stood for Lucifer.

Neville walked towards the door and tried to pull the knob to open it. However, the door was locked and he heard a deep voice scolding him.

"Ain't you even going to knock? So sad what you're doing..."

Neville cringed from feeling embarrassed for failing to follow the basic rule when dealing with the doors. He gave three firm knocks on the door.

The door opened, revealing passage into the interior of the tower. Spiral stairs led down and there were many other doors along the way on the dark walls.

Neville flinched when he heard the same voice calling him. Was it the Devil?

"Come in!"

The boy just stood on the spot, holding on his stomach.

"I said...", the voice started again, "...come _**IN**_."

Then, suddenly, Neville was grabbed by an invisible force and flew down the stairs at an immense speed.

The force stopped him at the red door that opened and he was dragged in once more through a hallway. This tower was bigger than it seemed.

Another door opened and Neville landed on a carpet. It was the Devil's office. It had dark oakwood floor, windows with wide red curtains, two armchairs and a fireplace. There was a desk with a lot of papers and books where the Devil was working.

Then, three blue imps flew up to Neville and started examining him. The boy cringed, feeling much more scared than when encountering Mr. Wheezy.  
One of the imps pecked the frightened boy with its nose right into the belly, to which the boy let out a tiny cry of pain.

"Quiet down, you're making a racket", the Devil said, writing something on a contract.

The imps flew away from Neville to behind the desk. The boy looked at the Devil and felt intimidated.

The Devil had dark gray furry body with exposed hands and feet with sharp fingers and toes. He had yellow eyes with sharp pupils. His gray horns were two feet long and the left one had a golden cuff.  
He wore golden earrings on both ears and a golden chain on his tail. He was smoking a cigar and writing something with a feather. It looked like a contract.

The Devil put the contract on a stack with others and started writing a new one.

Neville, even though standing in front of the Devil himself, decided to speak up, without any fright in his voice.  
"Excuse me, I was wondering if you could give me a job."

The Devil stopped writing and looked up at Neville, his pupils piercing Neville's eyes. He raised his head and gestured his hand, moving it from left to right in front of himself.

What had the Devil done was that he sew Neville's mouth to shut him up. The boy flinched at this new feature, trying to move his lips apart by tugging on his skin to no avail.

The Devil just grinned.  
"I don't wanna hear such a stupid request, you're just a worthless weakling", he cackled, dipping the feather in inkwell.  
"And this is certainly not a place for a human to be."

He bent his head towards Neville's eyes and let out a formal speech.  
"This is _my_ casino, where the residents of Inkwell Isle come to have one hell of an experience. And you humans _always_ make a mess, doing things without permission, gambling and drinking impulsively like lunatics. Just like your parents!"  
To the mention of his parents Neville felt determined even though the Devil was far more powerful, yet was unable to speak. Oh, good golly, what would he say to this man...  
"They got what they deserved, though", he said, taking another cigar. "And you'll never see 'em again, your world either."

He exhaled a large puff of smoke in Neville's face, to which the boy just shook his head.  
"You'd be an obedient little imp, I can imagine", the Devil mocked. "Or... even a rock of coal."

Neville had a confident expression, trying not to feel afraid. But his shoulders visibly buckled up and down.

The Devil let out a dark laugh.  
"Heh, I see you're shaking. Actually, I'm surprised that you made it this far. You made it so far that... I think someone must've helped you. Let's thank that one whoever it is."

The Devil gestured his hand now from right to left, opening Neville's mouth. "Just who was it, dear? C'mon, ya can tell me", he grinned.

Neville gave himself a moment, knowing he should stay determined. He didn't care about the consequences of standing up to the Devil himself.  
"Please, can you give me a job?", he yelled, confidence building up in his voice.  
The Devil furiously banged his fist on the desk.  
"Do _NOT_ start that again!", he roared.  
"Please, I just want to work!", Neville shouted.  
" **SILENCE!!!** ", the Devil fumed. At this point, Neville could see anger building up in this man as he leaped over the desk so he was standing right in front of the startled boy.

Neville got to see his height, towering over him for a head. The Devil was breathing rapidly while Neville felt losing that confidence he just had and began sweating.

The Devil roared at the poor boy.  
"Why in Inkwell Hell do you think I should give **YOU** a job?", he pointed his sharp finger at him.  
"Anyone can tell you're a lazy, spoiled **CRYBABY** and you ain't got _NO_ manners. This is a high class place, get out of here, you can't get a job here, I've got all the lazy bugs I need. Or..."  
Now he swirled his tail around Neville's waist, trailing up his body as he mocked him in his ears.  
"...maybe you would want the most _difficult_ role I can assign, that you will work until you breathe your very last breath?", he chuckled, his tail now reaching Neville's neck, making an expression "off with his head".  
Neville almost broke down on spot from fear building up in him as his heart wanted to pound out of his chest. This being was not someone to mess with and probably not the one to be provoked.

Then, both the Devil and Neville looked in shock at the door on one of the sides in the office. There was a loud banging noise and the ground slightly shook like in an earthquake, the blue imps flying towards the two.  
And then the door burst, a large pool of ink splashing across the walls, with a medium sized foot with a black shoe breaking through the door while anything that was behind that door cried.

The Devil's face was full of concern.  
"Oh... dear... you woke up my child!", he shrieked, running towards the door.  
"Never fear, daddy's here, **Bendy** , be a good boy..."  
Then, he glared back at Neville.  
"Why ya still here? I told you to leave."

Neville refilled with confidence.  
"I WANT TO WORK HERE!", he shouted.  
"SHUT UP, YOU'RE SCARING MY CHILD", the Devil roared back.

Then, that same foot hit the Devil right in the cheek as he looked shocked. Wow, Bendy sure did make Neville even more determined.  
"C'mon, sweetie, calm down", he purred.

"I'm NOT leaving until you give me a job!", Neville yelled.  
"OK, OK, just be quiet", the Devil replied, his anger fading away, then turning to Bendy. "Here comes daddy!"

The Devil slowly entered the room.

Neville and the imps looked at what has just happened. The whole office was in mess, wooden planks here and there, a few books and shelves knocked over. Then, a box of soul contracts the Devil wrote down earlier, that was on the floor, had one of them fly out of the pile and into Neville's arms, a feather following after. Neville looked at the contract.

It was a parchment saying " **SOUL CONTRACT** " in black letters, a blank space for signature and the text. Neville managed to make out a part of the text saying:

 

> I hereby grant unto Devil, the ruler of Inkwell Hell, my soul.

...and the rest was all unintelligible.  
"That's your soul contract", the Devil explained, returning to the office cleaning up the mess. "Sign your name away and I'll put you to work. But if I hear **ONE LITTLE COMPLAINT** about you, you'll be joining your parents in the ruins."

"So, I just sign here?", Neville asked.  
"Just sign, want your job or not?", the Devil replied, bothered.

Neville crouched next to the fireplace and began signing.

"Just how can I give a job out of blue?", the Devil grumbled, still cleaning. "Hate being nice all the time. You done yet?"

"Yeah", Neville replied.

Suddenly, the contract slid from under Neville and into the Devil's hands. He grinned and laughed while reading it.

"So... _Neville_. _Neville Montgomery_?", he asked mockingly.  
"Yes, sir", the boy replied.  
"What a pretty name!", he cackled.

Then, the Devil placed his hand on the signature and rubbed it against the parchment several times. Then he let go and turned it towards Neville. The boy gawked in shock.

The signature was showing a different name.

"And your name belongs to me now!", the Devil grinned.  
He pointed at the new signature.  
"From now on, your name is **Aaron**. Answer me, Aaron!"

"Y-yes, sir!", Neville, now named Aaron, stammered.

The door to the office opened and King Dice entered.  
"What do you need, Boss?", he asked.  
"This boy just signed his contract, so introduce him to his job", the Big Boss replied.

"Right...", Dice grinned, his eyes turning green and looking at Aaron. "So... what's yer name, sugar?"

Aaron felt a little unsettling. Dice looked a bit malicious now.  
"Huh? Nev- oh, I mean, my name is _Aaron_."  
"Okay, Aaron", Dice replied. "Follow me."

King Dice and Aaron were using the elevator. While they were going to the main floor, the latter looked up at the former and began to speak, embarrassed.  
"Dice, I...", he said, before being cut by Dice.  
"No useless talking", he replied. "And address me as King Dice."  
Aaron looked at him, feeling uneasy to what his savior turned out to be like. There was something that Dice kept from the boy. What was that?

Then, they entered the break room. Aaron awkwardly frowned at everyone of the staff looking at them. They were looking down on the boy, feeling hatred and disrespect towards him.  
"I don't care even if the Big Boss ordered", a whiskey bottle said.  
"We ain't takin' no humans", a stack of poker chips with a cowboy hat scoffed.

" **Whiskey** , **Chips** , it's fine. He already signed the contract", King Dice.  
Everyone in the room began chattering among themselves, exchanging the words of shock and disgust.

"I promise to work really hard!", Aaron said.  
"No way we're having him in the break room, he'll stink up the whole place!", a female imp said. To this, Aaron blushed from embarrassment.  
Dice face palmed to this woman insulting Aaron's human nature.  
"Three days of eating our food and his smell will be gone", he said. "And if he doesn't work hard, shuffle him, boil him, do whatever ya want. Now get back to work. Where's Arin?"

"What?!", Arin, who was standing by the door, shrieked from disgust. "Don't ya dare dump him on me!"  
"Ya said you needed help", Dice grinned.  
"Yeah, that's right, Arin is perfect!", Whiskey smiled mockingly with Chips holding his laughter.  
"Alright, let's get this over with", Arin sighed, gesturing Aaron to come closer. "You owe me one, blockhead."  
"Have a nice time", Chips waved.

While Arin and Aaron walked through a hallway, the former stopped and gleefully addressed Aaron.  
"I can't believe ya pulled it off! You are such a dolt I was worried", she said. To this, Aaron slightly frowned.  
"Now, if ya need anything, just ask me, m'kay?"  
"Okay", Aaron sighed.

Arin looked with concern.  
"Huh? What's wrong?"  
"I feel dizzy...", Aaron whimpered.

Arin led Aaron to his room in one of those hallways.  
"So, this is your room. A bit food and some sleep and you'll be alright", she smiled, taking a package out of the closet.  
"Here's your bow tie, your pants...", she said, giving him a pair of black pants and crimson bow tie. She dug deeper in the package to search for the right shirt.

"Arin, you know King Dice?", Aaron asked.  
"What about him?", she replied.  
"There... aren't two Dices, are there?"  
"Two Dices?! I can barely stand one."

Arin took another white shirt from the package, but folded it back into the package.  
"Too big...", she sighed. "Anyway, he's the Devil's right hand man, so don't trust anything he says."

Aaron, feeling pensive and sick, sat on the floor and sunk his face in the clothes Arin had given him.  
"Ah, there we go!", she said, taking a right sized white shirt, a navy blue vest and a pair of gloves. Then she looked at Aaron and crouched.  
"Hey, what's wrong?", she asked, patting his back.

An imp worker opened the door.  
"What happened?", he asked, gesturing at Aaron.  
"The new guy, he doesn't feel well", Arin explained.

In the meantime, King Dice was climbing up to the balcony of the tower where he met the Devil. He was giving a farewell to his boss as the latter turned into a bat and flied away with the one seen the first time Dice helped Aaron.  
The Devil and his bat set out on a journey, flying out through a hole in the cave and in the sky on a task in Inkwell Isle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consider that Bendy is a lazy, obnoxious and spoiled child at the age from 3 to 5. The idea of having him be the Dev's child really did turn out to be a nice idea after all those comic dubs ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Anyway, I'm trying to keep it regularly, and I might even include the chapter art ^^
> 
> Also, did anyone notice the "The Little Mermaid" reference?


	8. The Temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Dice takes Aaron to the place where his parents are kept as imps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> King Dice is a pretty supportive boss ^^

The casino was closed for the day and everything got quiet. All the patrons slowly left and the staff had retreated to their dorms in the casino.

Aaron's room was located next to Arin's, on one of chess towers on the main building. From the balcony, one could see the distant ocean and the rest of Inkwell Isle.

The casino was deadly quiet, no sound to be heard in any hallway or a room. However, Aaron couldn't sleep from everything that had transpired ever since he came here. From now on, his survival depended on his attitude and attitude is something that is difficult to change.

Aaron breathed rapidly, resting one side of his face on the pillow as he trembled in fear. He had little to no experience in servitude and had to do what he knew at this point.

Then, at one point, King Dice opened the door, walked and crouched next to the tired boy. He pat his back.  
"You awake?", he asked.

Aaron nodded.

"Good. Meet me at the stairway to the casino. I will show you where are your parents", Dice replied, leaving the room and closing the door after him.

A bit later, Aaron sat up and looked around him. He changed to his casino uniform which turned out to be a great fit, admiring his new look in the mirror, before leaving into the hallway, silently as to not wake anyone up.  
Aaron climbed down the stairs and into the empty main area. No sight and sound, all the chairs and tables were empty, gambling and smoking areas evicted from anything living to be found. He just walked towards the door.

Aaron opened the door and noticed something.

On the middle of the stairway, Aaron stared at a mysterious figure he had met before. It was a pink, transparent mass, rounded and triangular at the bottom. Its eyes were hollow and its mouth were straight. For his life as Neville, Aaron had been listening to stories of ghosts looking like this one, inhabiting abandoned tombs and ruins.

He felt something ominous, but tried to keep it steady and began walking downstairs, ignoring the ghost.  
The ghost, on the other hand, looked at the boy as he passed.

Aaron made his way down the stairs and stopped, looking back, but he had what to see.  
The ghost was gone.

Aaron was confused. The first time he saw this ghost, it really creeped him out. Does it want something from him? He didn't know.

Aaron turned back and noticed Dice, holding his arms behind his back, and taking him by the hand.  
"Come with me", he whispered.

King Dice walked a bit further through the cave, then, for safety, looked around a few times before holding firmly on Aaron's hand, then performing the warp jump.

Through Dice's warp, Aaron had enough time to observe everything. The stream had purple tint, with light mauve waves and various playing cards here and there. The boy thought he also saw a joker card of two cups... though he wasn't really sure.

While they were warping, Dice turned Aaron around.

"Now, listen to me", he said sternly. "Do **NOT** ever talk to anyone about visiting this place, otherwise the Devil will turn you into an imp himself."

The warp opened at a mountain field, filled with antic ruins. There were pillars and stone monuments everywhere, featuring sculptures of kitchenware and silverware in various poses, like _Discobolus_ , _The Thinker_ and etc.

Dice took him by his arm to the ruins of a temple. In front was a half-damaged scultpure of a woman holding a spear that had a chalice for a head. Aaron felt somewhat familiar with this as he looked up at the temple entrance.

There was a complex emblem reading " **CALIX ANIMI** ".  
What was that?

King Dice lead Aaron into the temple and the boy behold something.

There were two rows of piled up discarded marble slabs, cubes and floor pieces, acting as a gate to ensure that the imps wouldn't escape. Aaron knew for sure that this was the imp prison where his parents had to be.

Both rows were semi-silent, and Aaron quickly noticed two dark purple imps, isolated from others, sleeping.  
One of them had a thick body and a tail ending in the shape of a diamond, while the other one was slim and its tail was double.  
These were surely his parents.

He looked at Dice, anguished, who nodded.

Aaron then quickly ran up to their area and leaned over the marble gates.  
"MUM, DAD, IT'S ALRIGHT, IT'S ME, AARON!!!", he wailed.  
But they were still asleep.  
"Come on, wake up!", he cried.

Dice approached Aaron.  
"What's wrong, are they hurt? Are they ill?", the latter asked worriedly.  
"No, they were tired and now they need a good sleep", the former replied.  
"And they...", Dice started, feeling bad in his tone, "...don't recall that they were once humans."

Aaron was on the verge of tears. However, trying to stay confident, he let it all out.  
" **MUM, DAD, DON'T WORRY, I PROMISE I WILL SAVE YOU, JUST DON'T GET TOO FAT OR THEY WILL HAVE YOU TWO DONE FOR!!!** ", he cried, running out of the temple, as Dice looked in shock to this outburst.

Aaron was sitting against a broken monument outside of the temple and buried his face in thighs. King Dice was standing next to him and sighed.  
Then, he reached his gloved hand under his vest and took out folded Neville's clothes.

"Your clothes", he smiled. "I got them for you when you're ready to go home."

Aaron looked at his previous clothes, which smelled mesmerizing and with a heavy scent of cologne. They looked like brand new.  
Holding his clothes on his knees, something little and rectangular fell out of them onto the ground.

"Huh?", he said, looking to the ground and taking the object up.

"The goodbye card?", he bent his eyebrows.

He read the card carefully, and read out loud:  
"Goodbye, _Ne-vil-le_..."

" _Neville_...", he flinched, a blast from the memory igniting in his mind as he looked at Dice, astonished.  
"That's my name, isn't it?!"  
Dice nodded.

"When the Big Boss makes a deal with someone who he thinks of as a troublemaker or a guy in a severe situation, he changes their name", Dice explained, his eyes a serious shade of green.  
"At the casino, your name is Aaron, and keep your real name as a secret."

"I can't believe I almost forgot my real name!", Aaron shocked. "And he almost took it from me..."  
"If you completely forget it, you can forget about your past life as a normal person", Dice sighed. "That is how it is for me right now..."

Aaron looked at King Dice.  
"You don't remember your name?", the boy asked curiously.  
"No, but...", Dice began smiling, his vicious green irises fading away, "...somehow I managed to remember yours!"

Then, the man reached his hand into the pocket of his pants, taking out a candy bar.  
"Eat this, ya must be hungry, I casted a spell so it gives your strength back", he said, handing Aaron a candy bar.

Aaron took one bite of the candy bar, slowly chewing it up and swallowing it. Then, he did the same with another bite, and repeated until it was almost eaten.

While Aaron ate this candy bar, he could feel his eyes widening and eyebrows bending as his eyes teared up.  
Before taking the last bite, Aaron found his face streaming with tears down his cheeks as they stained his shirt. He felt like he was going to lose it at any moment, but confidently took the last bite, chewed and swallowed it with the effort he had.

Then, Aaron looked at Dice, who had an expression of condolence. The boy buried his eyes in his palms and started crying, letting out soft whines. He had gone through a lot and this was a good chance to cry it all out.

"There, there", Dice rest his hand on Aaron's shoulder in a friendly and supportive way. "It was difficult, but you made it. Come here, friend." King Dice wrapped his arms around Aaron, consoling him.  
"Take some more, you will feel better in no time", he said, taking another two candy bars.

Aaron took the candy bars and began eating one quickly, though this was pretty difficult due to all the crying and salty feeling in his mouth from rapid breaths and emotion.

After a while, Dice walked Aaron towards the cave.  
"Just act casual, ya know your way to the casino", he said. "And never ever give up, no matter where you are, m'kay?"  
"T-thank you, Dice", Aaron replied. "I promise I will try to stay confident."

Aaron began running through the cave with bliss in his eyes from the way his boss helped him, like all the pain he had been through has never happened.  
Before retreating through the door, he noticed something in the sky; something long and mallow colored, ascending from the ground. It looked like it had a black and red collar around its neck and slightly furry body.

"Is that... King Dice?", he wondered, staring at the sky. "Didn't know he could shapeshift to a dragon."

Aaron closed the yellow stained glass door and through the still empty main area. However...

Unbeknownst to Aaron, the pink ghost was behind him at the time Aaron observed the sky, slowly advancing towards the door.

A little bit later, an imp worker opened the door to Aaron's room and noticed the boy completely relaxed on the bed, clutching his clothes. Confused, he just tucked the boy in the covers and left the room.


	9. Do Your Best, Aaron!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron accepts the challenge and doesn't give up determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ!!!  
> \-------------  
> -I decided to change Aaron's uniform.  
> -I realized that I found the wrong counterpart for Whiskey, sorry ;-;  
> -I decided to let the cup brothers appear (me: they are making a debut; cuphead and mugman fans: ok (INTERNALLY SCREAMING "YAS")  
> Due to these, I will update the characters list on the "PLEASE READ" chapter. Sorry for these changes being so sudden!
> 
> Also, a little reference to a FNAF "Let's Play" by WatchGirlsPlay back in 2014 ^^

Sun slowly started to set beneath the horizon. Dark clouds hovered over the sky and began dripping rain as the casino began shining from lights on the inside. It was time for Aaron to get busy.

In the dormitories, staff was going here and there, preparing for work. Arin came by to introduce Aaron to preparing himself for work by showing him how the room needs to be made before leaving it for the most of the day.

Arin began folding the bed covers while Aaron straightened the sheets. She stopped while pushing them in the closet and spoke to him.

"Where have you been? I was worried when I saw you lookin' all drunk on the bed", she said.  
"Sorry", Aaron whispered.

A while later, Arin and Aaron, including many staff members, were making their way down the stairs to the main building to begin their daily shifts.

First, all of the staff had to go to the break room first and get their name tags.

"These name tags work like pins", Arin explained, showing him the hanger. "Just pin them to your vest and you're good to go."

Arin took her name tag off the hanger, pinned it to her vest and left the break room.

Aaron looked at the hanger and noticed many similar beige labels coming in various colors.  
Luckily, the tags were set in alphabetical order, making it easy to find.

Aaron took his name tag off the hanger's hook and examined it.

It was a label with cream outline and crimson color. It had the name _Aaron_ written in white cursive letters.

Aaron carefully pinned the name tag to his vest just above his pocket, doing it in front of the mirror in the break room.

"C'mon, _hic_ move it...", an impatient female voice scoffed.

Aaron turned around and saw a woman looking like a martini glass. She wore black pants and bow tie, a white shirt and apron and had purple eyelids. She was tapping her foot, impatient to check herself out.

"Y-yes, ma'am", Aaron muttered, quickly leaving the break room.

Arin took Aaron to the bar to introduce him to handling the glasses and beverages. Their coworkers were **The Tipsy Troop** , a trio of constantly drunk glasses, out of whom that  **Martini**  woman was one of them, the other ones being a rum glass (wearing a name tag saying **Rum** ) and Whiskey.

Arin and the Tipsy Troop worked quickly on cleaning the glasses that were left dirty from last night and preparing the clean ones. However, Aaron found himself failing to keep up with the pace. He realized that they are skilled workers, even though the glasses were all drunk.

During the glass cleaning session, Rum approached Aaron with a cloth in his hand while the boy was cleaning a wine glass.  
"Hey, A- _hic_ -aron...", he stammered, visibly drunk.  
"Yes?", Aaron replied.  
"Haven't ya... _hic_  ever cleaned glasses?", he said.

Aaron didn't know how to reply to this as he, flustered, squeezed the cloth above the sink. He was only making sure everything is in order.

Arin approached and gave a friendly pat on the shoulder.  
"Don't worry, Ronny", she smiled. "When ya get used to it, it's gonna be no hard."

They were cut by the stack of poker chips that Aaron had seen for the first time last night in the break room.

He was wearing a white shirt with cuffed sleeves, a cowboy hat, a red bandanna, brown jeans and cowboy boots and navy blue vest with the name tag saying **Chips Bettigan**.

"Arin, Aaron, ya two are preparin' the Big Area tonight", Chips said resting his elbow on the desk.  
"W-WHAT?!", Arin shrieked, almost dropping the glass. She fumed and grabbed Chips by his collar.

"Listen, don't give me false orders unless you want your blue stack topple down", she threatened.  
Chips slowly pushed her away, slightly cross. Arin seemed to be reluctant about something Aaron yet had to know what that was.  
"Orders from King Dice, so quit complainin'...", he said.  
"And you", he pointed at Aaron before walking away, "Better work or you'll have your butt kicked."  
Aaron blushed in embarrassment. He looked at Arin who wore an expression "someone kill me please".

Aaron walked towards the window at the bar and opened it. He sighed in relief at the cool air, damp from the air and full of excited chattering of patrons.

Then, Aaron's eyes locked onto a peculiar patron standing on the ground, looking up at him.

It was the pink ghost. He was standing in the spot damp from the rain falling through a crack in the cave's ceiling. He was looking at Aaron with the same hollow eyes and a slight smile.

"H-hello?", Aaron called. "Ain't you getting wet out there?"  
The ghost gave no reply. Aaron just stared at him.

"Aaron, hurry up!", Arin yelled from the inside.  
"Coming!", the boy replied and preparing to leave.  
"I'll keep the window open for you!", Aaron smiled at the ghost before retreating.

The ghost smiled wider, beginning to slowly levitate and squeezing through the window in the end. He turned invisible and began roaming the casino.

The main area was full busy as Arin and Aaron walked through it. The latter wore rubber gloves and held two buckets of water while the former wore rubber gloves, carried two mops and a box.

There were many patrons and staff by now, the former betting and drinking, sealing their deals and various other things, some really morbid, while the latter was rushing to and fro, all depending on who had what role.

Then, from a craps table, a short cup, wearing a white shirt, red bow tie, vest and pants with a diamond pin in the vest chuckled mockingly at Aaron and Arin.  
"Heard you two got the Big Area!", he laughed.  
"Shut up, **Cuphead** ", Arin scoffed.  
"Cup, please...", a similar one face palmed, dressed in blue and with a spade pin.  
"C'mon, **Mugman** , I was joking", Cuphead relaxed on the table.

Aaron looked in curiosity at two cups. A few years before this all happened, he heard the story of two brothers saving all the runaway debtors of Inkwell Isle from the Devil. But he'd never expected they would work at the casino in the end.

Aaron and Arin arrived to the "Big Area", which had two slot machines, a pool table and two large regular tables. It was more or less in a mess (darn it coincidental rhyme)

"This is so called 'Big Area'", Arin explained, making an air quote. "This is where the unruliest and cockiest patrons make their deals and bets."  
"These jerks, haven't cleaned it in weeks", she scoffed.

Two imp workers, staring from the hallway, giggled as Arin looked back and pierced their eyes with a cold look. They froze and began whistling.

Aaron took a step before tripping on the dirty floor, spilling some of water from the buckets and smashing his rear. The imps couldn't help but burst in laughter. Aaron blushed embarrassed with an unamused expression as he got up, rubbing the freshly-hit sensitive area.

"And since we were called to clean it up", Arin sighed, "A few of them might be comin' our way."

Arin took one of mops, slightly frightened. She knew something was about to happen, but Aaron, like how he witnessed many times before, didn't know how to react. But would he try to help?

"First we'll sweep 'n' mop 'em floors and tables properly", Arin sweeped the floor in a swift motion, "'cause, look Ronny, looks like a kid vomited here, this place ain't up to health code..."

Aaron smiled at Arin, who, beckoning him to work in this fashion, looked as if she was trying to help herself.  
'Arin ain't that bad!', Aaron wondered, dipping the mop in bucket. 'I sincerely hope others will change their opinions, though...'  
The boy started getting used to the work.

A bit later, Chips approached the two on full steam with a cigar in his mouth.

"Arin, Aaron", he shouted, "Patrons are arriving!"  
"Wait! Cut us some slack!", Arin yelled.

She had an angry look with her and Aaron working as fast as possible.

"This is clearly harassment", she scoffed, throwing the cloth on the floor. "Alright, Aaron, you will go to the bartender and get the card packs and ashtrays."

Aaron took off his rubber gloves and put them on a chair.

"OK", Aaron replied running towards the bar.  
However, he ran back to Arin and gave a question.  
"What's a bartender?"

In the Devil's office, the Big Boss was writing on a contract, sipping from a bottle of Jack Daniels.  
He wiped his mouth with hand and sighed in relaxation before throwing it behind himself.

An imp caught the bottle and left the office.

Then suddenly, the Devil had his eyes widen and his pupils roll to one side and his ears twitching to catch an imaginary sound. Though, since he was the Devil... did he hear something?

"Hm", the Devil growled. "Something's coming. I wonder what."

He put the feather he wrote with into the box and got up from the chair.

He then opened the window and peeked his head out, looking left and right, a bit angry.  
"What useless scum is roaming around in rain...", he scoffed, looking down through the cave and out towards the Inkwell Isle through the cave cracks.

A dark, huge clothed figure was slowly stumbling towards the casino, groaning.

In the meantime...

"I ain't _hic_ wastin' card packs on _hic_ you", Whiskey scoffed when Aaron approached the bar.

Whiskey had broad shoulders and had a bottle for the head, filled with dark orange liquid. He had thick eyebrows, a big nose, white shirt, a brown vest and apron and bow tie.

Then, two patrons, a couple, walked to the bar. Whiskey was wearing a smile and handed them two glasses.  
"Enjoy your time!", he said.

Then, an imp worker jumped on the bar desk.  
"Stella Artois for Carnation", he said meekly.  
"Got it", Whiskey took a glass from the cupboard and prepared to take a bottle before looking once again at Aaron.  
"Why ya still _hic_ here? I told ya to _hic_ buzz off...", he scoffed.  
"But I was told so...", Aaron begged.  
"Well, too bad", Whiskey replied.

He filled the glass with Stella Artois and gave it to the imp worker.

Then, the pink ghost slowly faded in and Aaron noticed him, staring at the specter. But, Whiskey looked at the boy, who instantly looked away, still standing.

The ghost faded away before Whiskey could see him as he went invisible. Then, the telephone rang and he picked it up.

"Whiskey *hic* speaking, yeah, Boss-", he began, before he noticed two packs of cards and two ashtrays hovering from behind the bar as Whiskey's jaw dropped.

The supplies made their way to Aaron's hands. The boy was confused, but smiled at Whiskey.  
"Thank you very much!", he gleefully said and stormed back to the big area.

"Get back here, wait _hic_ a minute!", Whiskey yelled.  
"Ya drank too much again?", someone said from the other side.  
"N-nothing, everything's fine."

It was the Devil talking to Whiskey through the telephone.  
"We have an intruder", he said.  
"Is it a human?", Whiskey asked.  
"Not quite sure", the Devil replied. "Dice should reply sooner or later."

Back in the Big Area, Arin took the cards.  
"Whoa, Ronny, you got really good ones!", she gazed at the packs.

She put one pack and an ashtray on each table.

"Alright, wait here, I'm gonna get us some breakfast", Arin walked away to the dormitories.  
"Okay!", Aaron replied as he looked at the Big Area before him.

It looked really clean, as if the casino just opened, and ready for anything. The boy smiled with all the effort he put into to make this area look amazing. Aaron could imagine the patrons gambling and drinking at the tables like lunatics and felt something... strange.

Aaron looked back and noticed the pink ghost.

Feeling ominousness, he walked slowly towards him.

"Uh, sir, it's not ready yet...", Aaron said.

The ghost didn't move Aaron or walk away, he just pushed his hands in. Aaron looked at them.

The ghost's hands were full of scent and supply chips. He buckled his hands up and down in beckoning manner.

"There's so many...", Aaron stammered.  
The ghost kept buckling his hands as the chips shook and clattered.  
"They're all for me?", the boy asked.  
The ghost only let out a faint sound, sounding like a moan. To give a sign, he nodded and smiled, giving an approval.  
"Thanks, but I don't need any", Aaron replied politely.

But the ghost kept pushing his hands, insisting.  
"No, I really thank you, but no!", Aaron said quickly, almost sternly.

The ghost slowly faded away. Did he feel disgusted by Aaron refusing?

When the ghost completely faded away, all the chips fell on the floor, clattering. Aaron shrieked in fear, flinched and put his hands on mouth, knowing he might get in trouble.

Then, he looked towards the main area, hearing loud thumping noises.  
Then there was a loud **THUD** as the Devil leaped over the stairs' railing.

"Did ya see?", King Dice pointed at the door, slightly scared.  
"A blokey, huh?", the Devil asked.  
"Apparently a cocky one", Dice replied.  
"He is going up the stairs!", an imp screamed.


	10. A Red Hot Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron accepts the challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will explain everything when I finish this fanfic ^^

The imp workers were running around the main area, up and down the stairs, all wearing frightened expressions due to the newcoming patron. They looked as if it was the end of the world.

The patron was a dark, huge and thick figure concealed mostly with his coat and hat, save for the end of his tail which moved along the ground. It was an ambiguous creature that imps weren't sure who was it, but the smell itself was terrible and revolting. He was slowly stumbling up the stairs with the imps desperate to stop him.

The imps were trying to turn him back and convince him to leave, but to no avail.

"No, no! Turn back!"  
"No, we're closed!"  
"We're not open!"  
"Hey!"

However, the patron got closer up the stairs and the imps, along with Whiskey and Mr. Chimes who were assisting them, felt the terrible stench, to which Mr. Chimes passed out. The others tried to save themselves.

Looking from the inside, the Devil smirked.  
"Somethin' seems fishy", he exclaimed, "Doesn't look like the ordinary patron or a debtor."

He looked to other workers.  
"Whatever it is, we will greet him, and try to get rid of him as fast as possible."

The imps could do nothing as the patron stumbled even closer.

The whole casino was in commotion, patrons switching seats and stopping their bets for the upcoming threat as the staff ran to and fro preparing for a rumble.

Chips ran through the crowd towards the Big Area, where he found Aaron, who was spilling the water from buckets in the sink and putting them down next to the slot machines.

"Aaron, the Big Boss wants to see ya", he said.  
"Yes, sir", Aaron replied.

 

The employees were gathered around the main entrance, with all the patrons occupying the tables like during a drill. The staff was mostly looking at Aaron and the Devil, who were talking about what was about to happen as King Dice nervously looked at them.

The Devil pointed his trident at Aaron.  
"OK, Aaron, do not mess this up. Take this patron to the Big Area", he said.

Aaron grew reluctant at the idea. The Big Area meant to deal with unruly and dangerous patrons. He couldn't imagine what would become of him if something went wrong. He tried to deny the request from the boss.

"But Boss, I-"  
" **No 'but's or I'll turn you into an imp!** ", the Devil threatened. "Ya hear me?" Aaron gulped.

"Uh, B-Boss, h-he's here...", Chips flinched at the door.

Two imps ran into the casino, holding on their noses as they ran into the main area. The patron was now visible through the glass and everyone got to see what really was going on.

 

The patron was a few feet taller than the Devil and his stench was revolting. He smelled like something stale, really revolting, or even like a mixture of possibly every filthy thing.

When the staff noticed him, Aaron and the Devil cringed, their eyes widening as the former's hair and latter's fur respectively bristled from disgust.  
Staff began backing off and shouting, including King Dice, who looked terrified and covered his nose and mouth with one hand.

Aaron felt so revolted with the stench that he covered his mouth as if to prevent throwing up. The Devil looked at him, frowning furiously.

"Hands down, you're insulting the patron", he growled.  
Aaron removed his hands from his mouth and looked at the patron opening the door.

The patron approached Aaron and the Devil, looming over them. The latter tried to scramble a few words, feeling utterly terrified, while the former looked up at him in fear.  
"W-welcome to m-my casino, e-enjoy your t-time here!", the Devil muttered, his fur bristling.

The patron extended his fisted hand towards the two as they cringed. He shook it once or twice, emitting the clinging noise of coins.  
"Oh, it's money!", the Devil whispered. "Aaron, take this nice patron's money..."  
"Yes, Boss!", the boy responded and walked closer, extending his open hands as the Devil backed off.

The patron opened his fist, dropping a few coins, filthy with sludge from his gloves.

Aaron felt shivers run down his spine as he felt the wet coins hit his palms.

"C-come on, A-aron, take him t-to the Big A-area...", the Devil muttered.  
"A-alright, this way", Aaron said anxiously. The patron began following him

 

Aaron slowly began to guide the patron to the Big Area. Each imp worker, normal staff member and patron cringed and backed off whenever the patron would be close to them. On the other hand, the Devil, back at the entrance, slowly collapsed against the wall.

Arin pushed through the crowd, carrying two plates of waffles with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and strawberries. Too bad if this food goes to waste.

"What's all this commotion?", she asked.

Then she looked at the scene before her as the crowd she has just pushed through held their noses and let out moans of disgust.

"W-wha?!", Arin shrieked, seeing Aaron slowly walk through the main area with the patron behind him.

"Aaron!", she yelled, running a few steps forward to see the huge patron stumbling after the boy.

Arin's face scrunched up as she clenched her teeth to the stench.  
"Ugh, disgusting..."

Immediately, the food on the plates changed and looked revolting as if it hasn't been touched for a month. This confounded Arin.  
"Our food!", she yelled in annoyance, both at the stench from the patron and freshly ruined food.

"Open the windows, all of them!", the Devil ran through the casino and up the stairs, observing the Big Area.

Aaron led the patron to one of the tables where there were two cocky patrons, ready to rumble. The bets were off.

Aaron didn't know much about gamgling, let alone how to be a dealer. He nervously took the pack of cards in his hands, took a deep breath and shuffled them throughoutly, then dealed the cards to the patrons.

"I see the boy knows how to shuffle", the Devil chuckled. "Let's see what will he do next."

 

As the time passed, the revolting patron began to lose hope in the game of blackjack while the other two cackled.

Aaron knew they had to do something about this patron. What if he doesn't win? He will ask for more and more. They couldn't risk. He realized he lacked motivation and decided to help him.

"Hey, don't lose hope", Aaron whispered to him.

The patron didn't reply as he coughed loudly to the stench of cigar smoke thanks to other two patrons.

Aaron found out that the patron couldn't stand the smell of cigars and decided to make a delightful atmosphere with mesmerizing scent. But how?  
Then, he had an idea.

He quickly ran towards the slot machines and took one supply chip, saying "VANILLA". This was for the scent of the air. Thanks to the pink ghost, he could satisfy the patron to the point where'd he be fully motivated.

The Devil gazed down to the bucket and noticed the chips.

"Did you give him all these supply chips?", he growled at Whiskey.  
"Don't look hic at me, Boss, I didn't hic do it..."

Aaron opened a little door in the wall and put the supply chip on the hook and retracted it, sending it to the incinerators area.

Soon, the air was filled with the smell of vanilla. The patron sighed at the fresh air, but was still unmotivated.

 

"Aaron!", Arin yelled, running in.  
"It's alright, he just needs to be motivated!", the boy replied. "Something's up with this one!"

Just then, the patron placed his cards on the table, slowly losing concentration with each minute. Just then, a little business card fell out from his coat's sleeve on the floor. Aaron picked it up and examined it.

"There's something on this card", Aaron said, reading the beige cursive letters. " ' **Grim Matchstick** ' ?"

Everyone in the casino gazed.

"G-Grim Matchstick?", the Devil's jaw dropped with shock.  
"Get yourselves down there", he ordered the staff standing by him.

Then, the Devil leaped over the railing and got onto his feet in Big Area.

"Listen to me!", the Devil said with confidence, Arin and Aaron looking at him. "It's not just any patron, it's our former debtor. He can't make a deal, but we can help him to win this game."  
"Now, everyone get in and observe!"

The staff and most of patrons began observing what was left to be of game, and Aaron noticed Grim's expression changing. He seemed to fill with courage.

A bit later, the patrons Grim played with cackled at him.  
"What's the use of trying when you're about to lose?", they mocked.  
Grim just grinned.  
"W-well, maybe the last time I was d-dumb enough to d-deal with the Devil, but now..."

Grim slammed his hand on the table.

"Not **THIS** time!"

The crowd around him looked at the table...

The patrons Grim played with sighed in disdain because the determined patron won! It was an amazing move.  
The crowd went silent.

Weary, the patrons gave him two duffel bags and left, feeling ashamed for mocking the dragon that, slowly but surely and persevere, won the game. Then, Grim got up and shucked off his coat, turning to Aaron.

The coat fell on the floor, revealing a magnificent, green dragon. The stench was instantly gone.

"Well done. Thanks to you, everything's fallen back in place", Grim thanked to Aaron and shook his hands with him, grabbed the duffel bags, coughed and began flapping his wings.

Aaron looked down to his hands and noticed something little and peculiar. It looked like the pit of peach and was really warm and soft.

 

Looking back at the table, the crowd noticed something shining on the table, left by Grim.

" **GOLD**!!!", someone yelled and the crowd threw themselves on the table, trying to pick as much as possible.  
"QUIET DOWN!", the Devil growled. "Grim is still here."

The crowd calmed down and looked at Grim, who was spreading his wings.  
"Aaron, move out of the way, he is preparing to leave", the Devil ordered.  
"Yes, Boss", Aaron replied.  
"Open the main exit!"

A few more flaps of the wings and Grim swifly and quickly flied out through the exit, creating a large sweep of air while exiting into the cave.

After a moment of silence, the patrons and staff began cheering to the successful and amazing effort.

"RONNY!!!", the Devil cried happily, hugging Aaron tightly. "YOU WERE AMAZING, YOU MADE US SO MUCH MONEY!!!"

He explained everything. "Grim Matchstick was my former debtor and now wanted to get back to normal life. You helped him achieve his goal!"

"Y'all!", the Devil growled, resting an arm on Aaron's shoulder in friendly manner. "Learn from Aaron. Supplies are on the house tonight!..."

The patrons and staff began cheering, whistling and clapping.

"...after you give all the gold you've found", the Devil added.  
They sighed.

A bit later, Aaron was hanging out in the break room, his vest on the couch while talking to Chips and **Mangosteen** , his friend resembling an eight-ball. It seemed that the relationship between him and the former really began improving after he showed all he's got.

"Hey, Chips, give Ronny and me some time", Arin elbowed Chips in a friendly way, the latter waved to Aaron as the boy was pulled by Arin on the couch.

She took two fresh donuts from the basket she was holding.

"Here, straight from Bon Bon", she said.  
"Thank you", Aaron replied, taking one donut.

Aaron chewed on his donut and spoke to Arin.  
"Arin, have you seen Mr. King Dice?", he asked.  
"Not again...", she sighed, "He hasn't been here since Grim arrived."

"Sometimes, Dice just goes somewhere without telling anyone", she spoke with full mouth. "There are rumors that the Devil forces him to do errands and... uh... some dirty work."

Aaron could hear the distant train noise in the distance as he ate his donut.

Arin looked at him and instantly realized what did he hear.  
"One day, I'mma get on that train and get outta here."  
Aaron looked at her, slightly concerned.  
"Don't worry, I was just jokin', I enjoy it here!"

Aaron turned around and he opened his right hand and noticed the pit Grim gave him earlier. He looked in curiosity, wondering if it's edible.

Aaron, trying to find out, smelled the pit. It had a scent of orange and he decided to at least give it a try.  
He bit the part of the pit and began to chew it, but...

Aaron's eyes widened and his face scrunched up as the taste proved itself revolting. He was wheezing and felt like he was going to throw up or choke.  
"Huh? What's wrong", Arin asked. To this, Aaron instantly finished the donut.

 

 

Later on, the casino went asleep so did the staff. It all got quiet, no sound to be heard. Well...

Mr. Chimes, for an inexplicable reason, quietly ran towards the Big Area. He looked left and right to make sure no one was close and then crouched.

He took one of his cymbals and scraped the ground. He looked at the cymbal in disappointment, hoping he would find the gold. When-

_Clink!_

A little golden coin fell on the floor. Mr. Chimes quickly caught it and examined it.

It was an oval coin with a little engraved sign, a circle having a triangle cut out.  
These coins were extremely rare and that's why a certain shop clerk decided to use them for rare and precious items.

Mr. Chimes looked up at the table and there was the pink ghost.  
"What do you think you're doing? You're not allowed in here!", he yelled.

The ghost took his hand out, opened it and dropped two coins.

Mr. Chimes caught them.  
"A-are they all for me?", he asked.

The ghost buckled his hand up and down, clattering from the coins inside.

Mr. Chimes gawked at it as he slowly climed up on the chair and jumped on the table with the ghost luring him.

"Gimme!", Mr. Chimes said, beginning to grab the coins while smiling in greed. Then suddenly-

The ghost's hand grabbed him by the neck and pulled him in his mouth, swallowing him whole. Mr. Chimes could be heard screaming and trying to get out.

"What's goin' on in there?", Chips yelled.

He walked into the Big Area to see nothing.

"It's way past bedtime, c'mon!"

Then, a few coins dropped from the ceiling as Chips looked up. It was the pink ghost, a bit more thick and with legs and arms resembling Mr. Chimes'.

"Hey, Chips", the ghost buckled his hand with coins. "I'm hungry. In fact, I'm starving."

Chips gazed at the ghost.  
"T-that voice..."

The ghost dropped the coins as Chips was trying to catch them.

"Here, I'll pay now, I'm a customer. Why don't you wake everyone up?"

 

In the meantime, Aaron was running towards the temple on Inkwell Isle 3 and ran right into it. He found his transformed parents.

"Mum, dad!", he yelled, showing the pit in his hand. "This is a gift from Grim Matchstick, I think that if you eat it, it might break the spell!"

Suddenly, all the imps looked at his hand and began crowding around, trying to get the pit.  
"W-which ones are you?", Aaron whimpered.

**\-------------**

"Oh, boy, what a bad dream", Aaron woke up, grasping the covers and slowly falling back to sleep.  
However, he heard the distant chattering noises.

"Huh?"

Aaron got up and looked out through the door, seeing the empty halls. He could hear many voices in conversations.

He retreated to his room, dressed himself and looked through the window at the chimney. It was on full steam.

"Wheezy turned the fire on? How long was I asleep?", he asked.

But little did he know what was going on.


	11. A Pink Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Aaron is worried about King Dice, the staff tries to satisfy a certain ghost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Cuphead is generally the one considered to be a bit greedy (by both the game and the Tumblr blog the designs are based off), I chose him to be devoured by the ghost.
> 
> Also, who is the mysterious pinhead?

"Add more salt!"  
"Careful, you will trip over!"  
"You will get your coins, just give him the best what we have!"

The whole casino was buzzing with flaring atmosphere building up as the patrons were full on gambling streaks and tipsies. On the other hand, staff had one hell of a work to accomplish, all to satisfy the certain patron.

As Aaron made his way downstairs, he could see staff yelling and running up and down about something he didn't know about. In the meantime, kitchen was on full power, the imp workers and the Tipsy Troop working at Mach 20, making huge amounts of food and drinks.

"Hurry up!"  
"The customer's waiting!"  
"Serve everything that you have at the moment, even the leftovers!"  
They yelled.

Aaron gazed down at the commotion from the stairs, astonished.

"Hey, Aaron!", Arin shouted gleefully, running up the stairs.  
"Arin?", the boy replied confsed.  
"I was goin' to wake you up", she explained after almost reaching the top. She raised her hand to his eye level and showed him the little object she was holding. "Look!"

It was a rare coin, the same one the pink ghost created. But Aaron didn't know that.

"It's the real Pork Coin!", she exclaimed. "There's a new patron who is, like, really rich. He can make these!"

Who was that patron?

In the main area, the pink ghost, now larger than before, feasted maniacally on the food and drinks the staff brought him, eating whole portions and spitting out the plates and glasses, with a certain number of them ending up shattered. He was going too fast for them.

The crowd around him yelled for the ghost to try out the meals and drinks they were holding and greedily begged for the coins. It seemed like a miracle that no one tripped and dropped their food.

"Just keep them coming in", the ghost exclaimed. "I wanna eat everything!"

As he finished his sentence, he threw handful of Pork Coins from both his hands onto the crowd. The greedy crowd desperately tried to grab the coins on the spot, some of them catching them with plates and glasses.

 

Back on the stairway, Aaron could hear the faint sounds of the crowd and made a neutral expression.  
"Who's the guest?", he asked.  
"Oh, who cares?", Arin replied, excited. "C'mon, the Big Boss is still asleep."

Arin turned away and began going downstairs.  
"I'd go look for King Dice first!", Aaron said.  
Arin stopped halfway and looked at him, sighing in annoyance.  
"I'd rather do it later if I were you", she replied.

"C'mon, Arin!", Cuphead exclaimed pulling Mugman by the hand, "Let's go get some more!"  
"Not quite sure about this...", Mugman whispered.

Aaron just sighed and walked back to the dormitories.

 

 

A bit later, he was resting on the balcony of the dormitory building. It was pretty high above the ground and any normal figure would look like a little speck to him.

Aaron admired the view before him. He noticed the mountains of Inkwell Isle 3 through a crack in the cave, remembering that there is the temple where his parents are. Sky was difficult to see, though.

He frowned.  
"Where's King Dice...?", he asked himself.  
"What if... I don't recognize my parents in the end?", he sighed. "I just hope dad didn't become too fat by now..."

He crossed his arms and rest them on the railing and closed his eyes.

Then, Aaron heard a loud rustling noise in the air. He looked at its source.

It was a white furry dragon with long ears, a snout and visible fangs. It had a collar with cards symbols and had six legs on both sides. It was swirling up and down in the air through a swarm of something.

"K-King Dice...?", Aaron whispered.

The dragon, possibly King Dice, was slowly losing control as he tried to stay in the air, going up and down.

"It is Dice, he's back!", Aaron exclaimed.

Dice fled towards the dormitory building as Aaron observed the swarm. The swarm consisted of red pinheads.

"Is he being chased by... pinhead birds?", Aaron asked in confusion.

Suddenly, Dice shot straight up the building at an immense speed, startling Aaron who backed off. One second after he passed, the large swarm flied after him and lasted for good 10 seconds. An aerial battle for dominance took place as Aaron observed.

"DICE!!! COME ON, DON'T LOSE HOPE!!!", Aaron shouted motivating him, but then noticed something.  
Dice's fur was damp with blood on several spots. Those pinheads were really dangerous.  
"He's hurt!", Aaron shocked.

Aaron opened the door to the balcony and shouted at Dice.  
"DICE, THIS WAY!", he yelled. Dice found himself back on track and in one swift move-

 _ **SGYHJDSBHDGADFAGSDA**_ (best crashing sfx ecks dee)

There was a loud crash as a few pieces of the wall crumbled onto the floor and glass shattered. The room Dice just crashed into was in full mess.

Aaron didn't waste time. He had to close the jammed doors as most as he could to stop the pinheads, who didn't decide to give up even then.

While trying to close the doors, a large number of pinhead birds caught themselves around Aaron. The boy screamed when a few of them pricked him and groped at the air, trying to shake them off.

Then, he heard the clinging noises.  
He looked around and the pain disappeared.

The pinhead birds simply fell on floor, becoming non-sentient pinheads.

"Huh?", Aaron said, brushing off his shoulders. "Those are just pinheads..."

Just then, Aaron noticed the pinheads coming back to life, slowly levitating off the ground and out through the damage on the balcony. They formed a swarm and began leaving.

After they have left, Aaron tried to close the doors fully, but to no avail.

He turned around and saw the mess.

The pictures in the room were on the ground as the armchairs and other types of furniture toppled over, if not almost broken. To sum it up, the whole room was a living mess.

Dice slowly got up from the mess he had made. He was badly hurt thanks to the pinheads. His fur was damp with blood as well as his jaw. He breathed rapidly.

"K-King Dice...? It really is you?", Aaron asked with concern.  
Dice panted and looked threateningly in Aaron's direction.  
"Hold still!", Aaron splayed his hands. "Those pinheads are gone now!"

Without warning, Dice charged towards Aaron. The boy, for the sake of his existence, jumped away and screamed.

 **HUDSYAGHJASHGDSAHDGA** (again didn't even try to use the sfx for making a mess)

Now the balcony had some blood splattered on the walls and the railing. Aaron looked in Dice's direction and slammed his hands on the railing, staining his gloves in the process.

Dice was en route to the Devil's tower.

"He's going up to the Boss!", Aaron shrieked in objection. "I've got to get there before he bleeds to death!"

Aaron began running down the stairs of the dormitory building.

But, unbeknownst to Aaron, a damaged pinhead on the floor gained consciousness and began following the boy.

  
In the meantime, the main area was full of excitement.

 

 

The staff was hosting a party for the pink ghost who was stumbling after Cuphead.

"Make way for the richman!", Cuphead shouted through the room. "And if anyone tries to pull of somethin' we'll make sure you regret interrupting the richest patrons of this casino."

As the ghost stumbled through, the staff cheered, but no one gave a thought to what has become of the ghost.  
The ghost looked different than before. His size changed drastically and now he looked like an enormous tick. What once was a slim ghost was now a fat mass of pink matter, shifting back and forth.

"This is the time! Beg of him!", Cuphead said.

To this, all of the staff outreached their arms, each one holding a hat for coins from the ghost. There was a massive crowd and begs and hollering of greed could be heard, begging for the exhausted patron to make coins.  
The ghost, however, kept going after Cuphead who didn't notice anything.

Then, Aaron made his way to the main area and had to get through to reach the tower. However, the crowd was huge.

'At this rate I won't be able to make it in time!', Aaron thought worriedly.  
But he decided not to lose hope.

Aaron found the place where the crowd was the least dense, pushing through effortlessly.

After that, he found himself in the unoccupied area of the room, running towards an elevator. Two staff members and a patron stared at him.

Aaron ran into the elevator, when suddenly-

An imp worker in the elevator grabbed his left hand and right shoulder to ensure the boy couldn't move. Aaron got slightly scared.  
"What are you doing?", the imp fumed.  
"Going upstairs!", Aaron replied in a hurry.  
"No you're not!", the imp replied.

Then, the imp looked at his splayed, gloved hand. He squinted his eyes, looking at the red liquid that had stained his gloves, before he let go of him in fear.  
" **AH, BLOOD!!!** ", he shrieked.

Aaron, free, ran out of the elevator and quickly looked around, trying to find a place to push through. However, his only option was to run in the direction of Cuphead and pink ghost.

He stopped in front of the little procession.

"Out of my way", Cuphead scoffed, "Can't ya see our guest is coming through here?"  
Aaron just stammered and spat out random words.  
"T-thank you for helping me earlier", he said.

"Don't just stand there, get off your bu-", Cuphead began, before being grabbed by the handle.  
It was the pink ghost who grabbed him by his head's handle. Cuphead flinched to this and found himself being thrown at the crowd.

Everyone gasped in surprise to the patron disrespecting a staff member. Cuphead landed into the crowd knocked over two staff members. The hot tea in Cuphead's head spilled a bit, accidentally on an unlucky imp that ran away screaming in pain from the hot liquid.

Aaron gasped in surprise before looking back at the pink ghost who loomed over him.

The ghost extended his open hands as the crowd looked at the scene. Then, he made a huge heap of coins, to which the crowd began chattering and staring with greed.  
He began smiling and pushing his hands forward, begging for Aaron to take them.

Aaron just stared at him, a bit of fear in his expression. However, he remained stoic. He had a plan how to reach the tower without accepting the money and just shook his head in denial.

The ghost looked confused for a moment, but kept pushing his hands.  
"Thanks, but... I don't want any", Aaron said at last.

To this, the ghost broke down. What was his smile instantly turned into a frown, as his hands trembled, slowly dropping the coins.

"Sorry, but I'm in a hurry, see you later", Aaron apologized.  
He began running in the direction of the crowd.

As soon as this happened, the ghost dropped his coins in defeat, clattering loudly against the floor, to which the crowd hurriedly and greedily hurled towards the coins as Aaron pushed through with as much effort as he had.  
The crowd began surrounding the ghost, who towered over them, desperately looking for Aaron. The crowd gave no attention to this as they tried to get as much coins as they could.

 

Aaron squished through the crowd and finally ventured into another hallway. Back in the main area...

"Shut up! Get back down!", Cuphead yelled at the crowd, occasionally shooting them with his finger guns to fend them off, greedily.  
"Everybody out!", he yelled, the crowd quickly cleaning as he smiled smugly at the ghost.

"It was terrible, sorry sir!", he smiled. "After all, he's just a human and he's new he-"  
Cuphead silenced himself as the ghost looked at him threateningly. The cup's face began filling with fear as a drop of sweat ran down his porcelain head.

"Wipe that smile off your face", the ghost said with signs of ominousness in his voice.  
Cuphead's expression quickly gained a nervous grin. On the other hand, a female imp worker sneaked past the ghost, picking up a few coins before trying to run away.

"You're still smiling!", the ghost stretched his mouth open, grabbing Cuphead and the imp. Both began yelling in fear as he picked them up.  
"W-wha- put me down!", Cuphead begged, scared for his life, but to no avail.

 

**_GULP._ **

 

"CUPHEAD!!!", Mugman, from the crowd, screamed in horror.

The ghost swallowed Cuphead and the imp, as the latter screamed for help. It was too late to help them as the ghost got even bigger.

The greedy crowd began screaming and turning away, making a stampede to save their very existences.

" **HE ATE THEM!!! HURRY BEFORE HE DEVOURS US ALL!!!!** ", they cried.

As the crowd began disappearing faster than light, Mugman stared uneasily at the ghost, sweating. No, almost crying of fear from what has just happened. Then he turned around and ran for his life.

The ghost just sat in place, breathing rapidly with the chaos around him.


	12. A Mysterious Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron has to find King Dice in the tower. And just then, he finds a new threat that wants him dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being inactive during these three days. I was at my dad's place and didn't have laptop with myself ^^
> 
> Also, check the ending notes for an additional note.
> 
> Enjoy this new chapter!

Aaron opened the window at one side of the main building and squeezed through it on a roof. He found himself looking in the direction of the Devil's tower.

However, now he had to find one way to the tower no matter what because the route to the bridge was out of his reach. He looked around carefully.

He noticed a long drain pipe stretching from the main building to the ladder on the tower. It looked old and loose. No one surely touched it in years.

Aaron knew that this was his only way for him if he wants to save King Dice and one way ticket to death, but he didn't hesitate.  
Determined, wearing a confident expression like a boxer preparing for a match, he rolled up his sleeves and cracked his knuckles, taking one deep breath.

 

And...  
Go!

 

Aaron quickly began running over the drain pipe, not wasting any time. As expected, it began to crumble and while Aaron was reaching the ladder, the beginning of the pipe detached from the main building and leaned down. Aaron quickly managed to wrap his arms and legs around the ladder just as the big part of the pipe dangerously came loose and loomed over the courtyard.

Putting himself together, Aaron inhaled and exhaled and slowly began climbing the ladder, which lead high up to a window. He knew that he would be in a big trouble if he stopped following the advice "don't look down" or if, even worse, the Devil saw him, but...  
If going to limits like these meant saving King Dice, he was on it.

 

A bit higher up, Aaron was reaching the window and it seemed that stress was finally over. However, he heard loud flapping of the wings in the distance and looked at its direction.

It was the Devil, coming back in his bat form towards the balcony. He didn't notice Aaron, but he was flying pretty fast.

"The Devil!", Aaron said to himself and sped up. He couldn't imagine what would the Boss do to Dice.

The Devil landed on his balcony and shapeshifted back, greeted by his blue imps and little bat and then walked into his office. On the other hand, Aaron stood up next to the window, only a few feet lower than him, easily standing on its stool.  
He went to open the window, but it was locked. He had no choice.

Aaron began banging on the window and pushing it, hoping it was only a faulty lock and that it might open. But to no avail. Then, he got help.

The pinhead bird that had attached to him earlier stealthily got off the boy and rammed its needle into the lock, hijacking it. Aaron didn't notice this until-

"Ouch!"

The window was successfully opened to Aaron's surprise as he fell into the room. He looked around and found himself on the marble floor, looking at sky blue walls, a big white and golden tub on his right side and many things commonly found in bathrooms, designed for aristocrats.

Aaron got up, shaken after that fall, and got out of the bathroom and onto the tower's staircase.  
He stopped, hearing faint voice of the Devil from up above, and followed its direction.

Slowly walking up the stairs, he reached a large wooden door. He looked at it throughoutly, noticing it's different from the other doors he has ever encountered in the tower. Also, Aaron could see some ink dripping down the wood. Was is the room of Devil's son?

He didn't know. He didn't care. All he cared about is that he could find Dice by taking route through this door. He grabbed the handle and slowly opened it.

 

 

Aaron got into Bendy's room. He examined it carefully.  
He found himself in a large room. The floor was wooden, but completely flawless and clean. The walls had murals of Inkwell Isle with various images, including landscapes, hystorical events etc. The ceiling of the room had a huge sun smiling to everything below. The room was full of discarded cushions, pillows and toys, some of them heavily stained with ink. There was also a huge bed in the room.

Aaron heard a faint, deep voice on the other side of the room. It was coming through a large set of curtains on one side. He sneaked slowly towards it and looked through a slightly open door.

He realized it was the Devil talking on the telephone. He was furious.

"Well I didn't expect any different when you were all so greedy", he fumed through the receiver of the telephone. "I'm coming down, so don't do anything stupid while you wait."

The Devil hung up and looked down in front of himself, letting out a sigh of disgust.

"Ugh, Dice is bleeding all over the carpet... take him away, he won't be of use to me any soon..."

Aaron silently gasped, knowing Dice is slowly dying and that, if he doesn't succeed saving him, the Devil will have his head and Dice dead.

Suddenly, the Devil moved away and began advancing towards the curtains to check on Bendy.  
Aaron gasped in fear and knew he had to hide to avoid being seen. Looking around the room, he noticed a big pile of cushions next to him and without hesitation dived into it.

Right after Aaron had disappeared beneath the cushions, the Devil came into the room. He glared at the hill of cushions and walked up to it, removing one by one cushion until he noticed Bendy.

Bendy was rather large baby, almost as big as Aaron. He had a white chubby face and his head was outlined black and with little horns. When his face got exposed to the cool air of the room, his sleepy face churned up in discomfort, whining.

The Devil smiled meekly at Bendy.  
"Aw, look at you sweetie, hiding under the cushions again, ain't we?", he cooed.

Bendy began whining louder. He wanted to go back to sleep.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I woke you up, my little huckleberry", he meekly purred. "I need to do somethin', so let me give you a kiss before I go."

The Devil sank into the cushion hill, making a loud noise of his lips giving a kiss to Bendy's pale cheeks. The baby calmed down.  
"Go back to sleep now", the Devil finished, putting the discarded cushions back to the pile.

He took a puppet and a pillow and walked to a sofa. He reached the wall and pulled a lever, changing the sun on the ceiling to the moon, the whole room going darker.  
Finally, the Devil left the room and pulled the curtains back on.

 

Aaron got from under one of the cushions, looking left and right for safety, and began leaving.  
Then suddenly, a gloved hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him deep into the cushions. He shrieked in surprise as Bendy pulled him inside.

"Ow, let go of me!", Aaron cried, before silencing himself and looking at Bendy.

Aaron had never seen a "baby" that big before. Bendy stared at him with huge, black, perfect pied eyes.  
"Whoa, you're a big one...", Aaron gazed in amazement. "But would you mind letting go of me? I'm in a really big hurry."

"You came here to make me sick...", Bendy whispered with hate in his voice.  
"Huh?", Aaron asked.

"You're a big bad germ from the outside, ain'tcha?", he asked spitefully.  
"I'm not a germ, I'm a human!", Aaron replied, becoming annoyed. "Now please let go of me!"

"You'll get sick if you go outside. Just stay here and play with me!", Bendy said.  
"I won't get sick, don't worry", Aaron whispered.  
"Yes you are", Bendy said. "That's why I'm in here all day long."  
"Staying in this room is what's going to make you sick!", Aaron yelled.

He calmed his tone down.  
"Now listen to me! Someone very important to me is badly hurt. I've got to go now, so please let go of me!"

Bendy squinted his eyes in anger.  
"If you leave now, I'mma cry. And if I cry, papa will hear me. Papa will come here and kill you. Play with me, or I'll break your arm."

Now, Bendy tightened his grip on Aaron's forearm, pressing it from opposite sides. Aaron clenched his teeth.  
"T-that hurts!", Aaron cried.  
Bendy loosened his grip on Aaron's arm. The boy resumed himself.  
"Please, we can still play, just later, okay?", Aaron asked, hoping Bendy would just give up.

"No, I wanna play now!", Bendy said, visibly spoiled from the treatment by the Devil. He pressed harder on Aaron's arm, making the boy shiver.

Aaron sighed, but remained confident. Good golly, if he had a chance, he would pull this spoiled child over his knees and spank him for a good lesson about respect. However, he had an easier way to end this.  
In a fit of exhaustion and anger, he splayed his hand right in Bendy's face. The baby's eyes widened with fear, looking at the stale blood on Aaron's glove.

Bendy gasped.

" **GERMS!** ", Aaroun shouted in rage. " **I'VE GOT GERMS, SEE?!** "

" _ **WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!**_ "

 

The hill of cushions began falling apart as Bendy, fearing for his health, cried loudly and spasmed around. Aaron used this to his advantage as he quickly got out of the cushions. He slammed the door leading into the Devil's office open, running into the said room.

Aaron gasped in fear as he saw the scene before him.

Three Devil's blue imps were trying to push Dice in his dragon form into a huge rectangular opening in the ground, leading who knows where. They looked at him.

"King Dice!", Aaron screamed. "What are you doing to him?! Back off!"

The boy ran up to Dice and crouched, fending off the imps who backed away. He hovered over his head. Dice was hardly breathing and was immobile.

"Dice, are you okay, what's wrong? Do you hear me?", Aaron asked in hurry.

One of the imps let out a squawking noise of confusion.  
"SHUT UP!!!", Aaron scoffed at the imp. The imp silenced itself with a poker face.

Then, the Devil's bat attacked Aaron. Aaron cried in discomfort whenever the bat would peck his head. The boy tried to defend himself, but to no avail as he had to make sure Dice stays alive.

The presence of the bat was used by the imps as a distraction as they slowly tried to push him inside.  
"I... I don't know what to do anymore!", Aaron cried, attacked from all sides. Who could help him now?

While this was happening, Bendy, moaning in discomfort and anger, tangled himself in the curtains, advancing into the office. Unable to untangle himself, the angry baby struggled to walk until the curtain tube couldn't handle much longer.  
The curtain tube detached itself and landed onto the floor like a bullet, breaking the whole set of curtains.

The imps and the bat stopped attacking Aaron and looked at Bendy in fear. Aaron looked back as well and covered his mouth.

Bendy was larger now, towering over Aaron as he crawled closer. His body was slowly dripping ink, making huge puddles on the floor. One could hear angry breathing sounds coming from the baby.  
It was truly a scary sight.

"I ain't afraid of germs", Bendy said. "If you don't play with me, I'll cry!"

"Please don't cry! Just wait for later, then we can play!", Aaron tried to calm him down.

"P-play with me r-right now", Bendy sniffed, "Or I-I'll start c-crying!"  
Bendy began crying as big ink tears rolled down his cheeks while the whimpers and sobs of spoiled child filled the room. Aaron and the imps were visibly afraid, fearing that the Devil might come any minute.  
"N-no, please don't cry!", Aaron stammered.  
"What a spoiled brat!", a female stern voice scoffed. Aaron silenced.

The pinhead that had attached to Aaron earlier unpinned from the back of his vest, revealing itself to be the voice. It flew up to Bendy.

"Shut your big mouth", the pinhead scolded, to which Bendy instantly stopped crying. "You're bit of a buchteln, ain't you?"

The pinhead pinned itself to the carpet, turning into an urn. The lid automatically got off and a yellowish-blue light came out. The light hovered out of the urn and onto the carpet, creating a light figure that first resembled nothing... then an oval figure... then it looked like a... ghost? And then...

The light shapeshifted completely to reveal a weird person that Aaron has never met before. She had a wavy abdomen and torso, colored blue, looking like a typical body of the ghost. Her arms and head, which was a chalice, were light yellow. The handles and the top of her head were golden. She had a yellow halo and a golden shawl with red decorations. She was looking exactly like that woman from the statue in front of the temple.

The imps, Aaron and the bat gazed at the newcomer. She examined herself and sighed in annoyance.  
"Eh. Still see-through... my reforming takes forever", she said as she looked at her transparent body.

"P...", Bendy began, the chalice woman looked at him.  
"Papa?"

She grinned maliciously.  
"You clod, can't you even tell me from your own father?"

She snapped her finger and Bendy turned into a little fat monochromatically colored mouse.  
"There", the chalice mockingly said, "Your body now matches the size of your brain! Now, who wants to be messed with?"

The chalice looked at the imps and the bat who, scared for their fates, backed away from Aaron and Dice, knowing that she won't miss the opportunity to target them with her spell.

She snapped her fingers at the bat that turned into a tiny sparrow. The imps flew towards the Devil's desk, fused and shapeshifted into a decoy of Bendy.

Aaron gazed at the whole scene before him and looked at the chalice with concern.  
"Hehe", she chuckled in pleasure, then glanced at Aaron.  
"This is our little secret!", she said threateningly. "If you tell anyone I will slit your pretty little neck."

Aaron held on his neck for a moment, fearing from what might happen if he fails to keep this for himself. He decided to speak up.  
"Who are you?", he asked.

The chalice flew towards him.  
" **Legendary Chalice**. I'm the Devil's fraternal twin. Thanks to you, I have quite enjoyed the way to my bro's office!"

She pointed at King Dice.  
"Now, hand that dragon over to me."

"What do you want with King Dice?", Aaron asked. "He's terribly hurt!"  
"Dice? He's a little thief, my brother's right hand man. He stole my _Super Art_ magic and I want it back!", she said sternly.  
"Dice would never steal from anyone!", Aaron tried to assure her. "He's a pretty nice guy!"  
"Do you know WHY your 'pretty nice guy' became his right hand man other than to be saved?", she asked. "To learn magic and become malicious, and now, he stole my Super Art!"

Dice, immobile, had his eyes slightly twitch.  
"Now, step aside, I'mma take my Super Art back from him", Chalice ordered. "It contains a special spell and anyone who tries to use its power without permission or without deserving it at all will die."

"NO, YOU CAN'T!!!", Aaron yelled, hugging Dice tightly.  
The office began shaking.  
It was Bendy's decoy, crawling viciously and slamming its hands on the floor, echoing loudly. It was trying to smash the real Bendy and the bat, now helpless mouse and sparrow (respectively) who backed away from the slow baby.

"You idiots, what's your problem?", Chalice looked at the decoy in annoyance. "I don't want my bro to come all furious up here."  
Bendy and the bat crawled up Aaron's back and onto his shoulder. The boy looked at them in curiosity.

Suddenly, Dice woke up, using the decoy distracting Chalice to his advantage. He roared loudly.  
Aaron flinched as Chalice and the decoy looked in the direction, shocked.

Dice spasmed on full strength, his tail hitting the urn at a hazardous speed, managing to shatter it in two pieces with a single hit. As the sound of ceramics shattering echoed the room, Chalice looked concerned as she began to glow.

"Oh, silly me!", she pretended to be surprised, as she became a little light again. The decoy stared with surprise.

The threat in form of Chalice was gone, but it wasn't over. By destroying the urn, Dice badly positioned himself right above the hole, pulling Aaron in with him, along with Bendy and the bat.  
"DICE, WE'RE FALLING!", Aaron screamed as the four slowly lost control and began falling through a deep shaft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been wondering for a few days: should I make another AU of Cuphead the same way as this one but with the plot of "My Neighbor Totoro"? Here is what I imagined it would be like:
> 
> The plot takes place on postwar Inkwell Isles (Roaring Twenties, a few years before the events of the game), revolving around Cuphead and Mugman who meet Cagney Carnation, the guardian of the forest, who makes a huge change in their daily lives and thanks to whom the brothers at least for a short time forget the fact that Chalice (in this AU their mother) isn't with them due to spending time in the hospital.
> 
> Let me know if I should make this AU in comments!
> 
> Also, buchteln is a type of Slavic pastry.


	13. Wheezy's Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dice, Aaron, Bendy and the bat reach Mr. Wheezy who tries to help the dying die man.

Aaron, King Dice, Bendy and Devil's bat began falling through a deep shaft after managing to destroy Chalice's urn. After a few seconds of turning over and losing orientation, Aaron managed to hold onto Dice as he carefully caught Bendy and the bat and have them rest on his shoulder.

Aaron looked down, but the bottom of the shaft was pitch black. He didn't know what was waiting for them down there. He didn't know if they were going to live or die. He just held on Dice tightly.

Then, at one moment...

 

Aaron felt a wave of past crashing over him as everything went silent and with a tint of purple. He noticed his hand taken up by a large gloved hand, he felt younger and astonished.

He heard a faint voice saying:  
 _"My apologies, are you alright?"_

 

This weird feeling lasted for 10 seconds, and it was cut short as the shaft curved into a horizontal path and out into a large, red cave. The bottom had a huge fire pit. Was that...

Aaron didn't want to think where were they right now, and especially not what would happen if they fell here.

A large number of white ghosts, with sorrowful and anguished expressions, flew up to the four, but Dice, back on track, managed to fly away from them. Were they the souls who were suffering?

Dice found another opening in the wall and squeezed into it.

 

  
Now, the four were going at a hazardous speed, audibly clanking against the pipes covering the walls of the tunnel. Aaron, Bendy and the bat held very tightly.

As they went faster and faster, Aaron noticed a light at the end of the tunnel and a fan. Then, at full speed-

 

_**CRASH!!!** _

 

"HEADS UP!!!", Aaron screamed as King Dice rammed into the fan, breaking the end of the tunnel. It was the fan at the ceiling of the incinerators room. Briefly after it broke, Mr. Wheezy looked up with shock and cushioned Aaron's fall.

On the other hand, the wood and the broken fan clattered on the floor. King Dice, exhausted, crashed with the shelves on the wall, squirming with the lack of space and a bit of blood staining the walls and the floor. Bendy was calmly carried by the sparrow bat.

"W-what the HECK IS GOING ON?!?!", Wheezy fumed, as Aaron jumped off of him and ran up to Dice.

Dice, briefly holding onto the wall with a puddle of blood beneath him, lost control and loudly banged against the floor, his eyes going tired.

"Dice, are you okay?", Aaron asked.  
Dice looked at Aaron threateningly, breathing like a rabid dog.

He raised his head.  
"What's wrong with you?", Aaron asked concerned.  
To this, Dice roared maliciously and the boy backed away.

Mr. Wheezy got off his chair and stepped closer.  
"This looks serious", he murmured.

Dice loosened his stand and fell on the floor. Aaron gasped in concern.  
"Dice, don't give up!", Aaron begged and turned to Mr. Wheezy. "What's happening, is he dying?"

"Looks like he's bleedin' from the inside", Wheezy whispered.  
"From the inside?", Aaron gasped.  
"I think so", the cigar replied, "Maybe he's swallowed somethin'."

Aaron took the peach pit from his pocket and crouched next to Dice's snout.  
"Dice, this is the gift Grim Matchstick gave me!", he said.  
"If you eat it, it might help!"

Aaron gently grabbed the skin of Dice's muzzle and pulled it up, revealing his sharp, white teeth. He pressed the pit against them, hoping Dice would open his mouth.  
The cigarette minions looked carefully at the scene before them. They thought Aaron was trying to lose his arm.

"Please, Dice, eat it!", Aaron pleaded.  
Then, he took the pit in his mouth and bit it in half, putting one in his pocket and trying to feed Dice with other one.

"See? It's harmless!", the boy tried to assure him.

Mr. Wheezy looked at the pit, astonished.  
"Is that the... emetic peach pit?", he asked.

Now, Aaron grabbed Dice's upper jaw, slowly moving it up.  
"Come on... open up..."

Then, Dice's mouth was open wide enough. He had to give him the emetic peach pit fast.  
Aaron shoved his arm in Dice's mouth, putting the emetic on the back of his tongue, then quickly pulling it out and closing his mouth.

"Now swallow!", Aaron ordered, quickly and tightly wrapping his arms around his snout.

 

Dice began roaring and spasming in anger while Aaron didn't even think of letting go. He whipped his tail back and forth, slamming each and every corner of the room. To this, Mr. Wheezy (who had Bendy and the bat on his shoulder) and cigarette minions, in fear, stepped back.

After a while of struggling, Dice's neck inflated and despite Aaron's tight grip, he retched and vomited.

Something huge, wet, sticky and purple shot out from his mouth, splatting on the floor. Mr. Wheezy gasped in shock.  
"Aaron, over there!", he pointed at the anonymous object.

Aaron looked at the object which slowly began evaporating, the purple liquid unveiling a large white cup.  
A little slug emerged from the cup, looking left and right for a moment, then quickly crawling out.

"The Super Art!", Aaron yelled, running to the cup and grabbing it.  
"That slug!", Wheezy pointed. "Over there, get it!"

The little slug was very fast and it easily escaped Aaron's feet trying to smash it. It tried to hide in the shaft, but the cigarette minions blocked its means of entry. The slug, having no choice, ran in Aaron's direction. The boy, caught off guard, quickly began stomping around cluelessly until-

_Squish._

Aaron had an awkward expression of disgust, slowly lifting his foot up from the purple slime. The slug was squashed.

"You killed it? Those things bring bad luck!", Wheezy said.  
"Hurry before it passes on you!"

Aaron turned towards Mr. Wheezy.

"Put your opposite index fingers and thumbs together", Wheezy ordered. Aaron obliged.  
"And evil...", Wheezy said, cutting this connection with his hand, "Begone!"

"King Dice stole this Super Art from Devil's sister, Legendary Chalice!", Aaron extended his hand, showing him the cup.  
"Chalice's magnificent Super Art?", Wheezy whispered in amazement. "It's very dangerous."

Suddenly, Dice's body began glowing with light, reforming back to his old self. Aaron ran up to him.   
"Look! He's changed back!", Aaron said, taking off his tailcoat.

"He's barely breathing!"  
"He's safe now", Wheezy said, "But it made him gravely ill."

 

  
Mr. Wheezy and Aaron worked together on patching up any wounds and giving him a proper therapy. Dice still had some visible blood on his clothes, but it was slowly fading away as the two worked.

Aaron laid Dice to rest against the wall and put a cushion underneath him to make him comfortable. He was still out cold.

"This should do the trick...", Mr. Wheezy whispered.  
He turned to Aaron.

"I knew King Dice before he even began workin' at the casino. He was interested in card tricks and sorcery and used his skills to scam people out of their money with that stuff. I warned him it could get him in trouble, but young man didn't decide to stop until he met the Devil. The Big Boss got outcheated in the game just like everyone else. And things got real... I..."  
"I can't tell what happened, but the contract saved his life. And once, he told me... he had no where to go or return... so... He changed as well, drastically."

Wheezy sighed.

"Mr. Wheezy", Aaron asked, "What if I return the Super Art back to Legendary Chalice?"   
"I can go to her place and apologize on Dice's behalf. Can you tell me where she lives?"

Mr. Wheezy scratched his head in thinking manner.  
"You'd go to Chalice's place...?", he asked surprised. "It might help, but she's one dangerous warrior."

"Please!", Aaron begged. He looked in Mr. Wheezy with eyes full of hope.  
"King Dice helped me before. Now I wanna help him."

Wheezy thought for a moment.  
"I know how could you get there... but to return..."  
He suddenly got an idea.  
"Wait for a moment."

  
Mr. Wheezy walked to a vintage cupboard next to him. It was old and dusty, probably aging with the man himself along the way. He opened one of the drawers and started digging into it, throwing out some old and dismantled books and papers.

Aaron approached the cigarette minions.  
"Everyone, I need my clothes, please!"

The cigarette minions nodded and retreated to the shaft. A second later, they were carrying his clothes.

They gave him the clothes and he clutched them.  
"Go on, I-I won't look...", Mr. Wheezy muttered, still digging through the drawer.

Aaron nodded and took his shoes off, changing his pants. He unbuttoned his vest and bow tie, pulled his shirt off and replaced it with his casual shirt with "The Diamonds" logo. Then, he buttoned the vest back on and fixed his bow tie.

As he was pulling his shoes on, Arin came in through the door leading to the elevator shaft.

"Aaron!", she shouted. "I was looking all over for you."

As she walked into the room, she observed the scene before her.

"There's blood everywhere, it's such a mess... w-what happened to King Dice?", she asked as she walked up to Aaron.  
She looked at Bendy and the sparrow bat on Aaron's shoulder.

"And who are these guys?", she pointed.  
"I found some new friends, see?", Aaron replied.

"Everybody's looking for you. The Big Boss is furious!", she said with visible concern in her voice.

Aaron gasped in confusion.

"It turned out that the rich guy was a monster called **Pinkman** , and he says that you let him into the casino!"

Aaron, remembering when he let Pinkman enter the casino on his first day of work, frowned and looked away.  
However, he had to face his mistake and confidently confessed to Arin, telling her the truth.

"I did let him in", he said.

Arin gasped in shock.  
"Are you serious?!", she asked.  
"Yeah, I thought he was a patron!", Aaron replied.  
"What? He's a monster, he has already swallowed three people!", she scoffed.

"Found it! Here it is, Aaron!", Mr. Wheezy yelled, taking out a small rectangular piece of paper out of the drawer and walking towards the two.  
"Hey, we're busy, boiler man", Arin said.

"You can use this", Wheezy unfolded the paper, revealing it to be four train tickets painted lavender. He gave them to him.  
"You got tickets for **Phantom Express**?", Arin asked in amazement. "But how did you get them?"  
"I've been keepin' them for a long time."

Then he rest his hands on Aaron's shoulders and crouched, meeting his eye level.  
"Now listen carefully", Wheezy said. "Legendary Chalice now lives on Inkwell Isle 1 in region called _Kettle Road_."  
" _Kettle Road_ ", Aaron repeated to remember.  
"That's right, to reach it, get off of the train at the stop called _Forest Follies_."  
" _Forest Follies_."

"Make sure you get it right", Wheezy sighed, "Because train used to go in both directions, but nowadays it's the one-way ride. Still wanna go?"  
Aaron nodded with confidence.  
"Yep. I'll walk back home along the tracks", the boy replied.

Aaron walked towards Dice who was still resting.  
"But Aaron, what about Pinkman?", Arin asked.  
"I'll take care of that now", he replied.

He knelt and looked at Dice.  
"Dice, I will come back soon, just please hold on!"

Arin stared at him with confusion.  
"What's going on?", she asked Mr. Wheezy.  
"Somethin' you wouldn't recognize. It's called care and love."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally you can call the ghost Pinkman ^^
> 
> Also, Mr. Wheezy is older than King Dice by a few years.


	14. The Big Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron faces Pinkman to calm him down once and for all and has to leave quickly. What is gonna happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My school begins on September 3rd, so expect me to be less active ^^
> 
> Also enjoy this chapter! At this point, you can say goodbye to Aaron's casino uniform.

The upper floor of the casino was full of scared patrons and staff. They were running around, frightened due to Pinkman growing out of control. They were visibly scared and tried to get to safety as fast as possible. They couldn't imagine having themselves devoured if Pinkman is unsatisfied. What were greedy faces now became faces of worry and fright.

The hallways were full of staff members carrying plates of food, drinks and, on some occasions, even roulette and pool tables. This was all to satisfy Pinkman, who was growing out of control. It was obvious that the ghost, wracked with greed from three people, would get even bigger by just stuffing himself with food and desires, but it was the only way to keep him at bay. Even if it meant the cycle of satisfying him had to repeat again and again.

The queue was scattered through the hallway in order to give space to any unfortunate soul who runs saving their life from Pinkman.  
There were four female imp workers on one side, holding a large plate with fish, salad and lemon for the hungry ghost. They stood worriedly and cluelessly, their legs trembling and hardly holding the plate, waiting to give the food.

Suddenly, three more female imps ran from out the corner, screaming at the top of their lungs. Two ran right by, the ones holding the plate having cold sweat run down their foreheads.

The last imp stopped by.  
"H-he just keeps getting bigger!", she cried.  
Then, she gave in to fear and screamed loudly, running further down the hallway.

The imps holding the plate chattered among themselves, afraid and anguished.  
"I'm scared!", one said.  
"I don't want to get devoured!", the other one replied with concern.

Another imp looked behind and squinted her eyes with hatred.  
"It's him", she scorned.

Aaron was passing through the hallway with Arin. The faces on the staff were pretty similar to the ones that were greeting the boy on first day; those were faces of scorn, disgust and hatred. They lost their respect, believing that this would be far less serious if Aaron had just refused to let Pinkman enter the casino. But, on the other hand, the workers were greedy and it was really an invalid argument to have the boy accused of all this mess.  
However, Aaron stayed calm. It was the greed of people at the casino that brought to a disaster, but it would not have happened if he hadn't let him in. He decided to face his mistake and solve it.

As the two got closer to the end of the hallway, Chips came out from behind the corner and ran up to Aaron.  
"Aaron! Thank the stars yer here. C'mon, I'll show ya what is happening", he said.

Chips led Aaron to the door on the wall around the corner. The latter decided to ask the former.  
"Is it se-", he began.

Aaron was interrupted by a loud clattering noise of plates and tables, breaking and turning over in the room, all muffled. Frightened voice of the Devil could be heard from the other side.  
"T-there's no need to be upset, sir, Aaron's gonna be here any minute now!", he tried to calm Pinkman.  
There was another clattering and banging noise.  
"Where's Aaron?", Pinkman asked angrily. "I want Aaron!"

"W-whoa...", Chips cringed in fear. "Pretty much."

Aaron took one deep breath and removed Chips' hand from his shoulder. He walked to the door and knocked on it.

The commotion behind the door stopped and the Devil came out. "Finally!", he scoffed.  
"One second, Pinkman, Aaron's here!", he said meekly.

Then he turned towards Aaron, sporting an expression of anger and shoving it into the boy's face, slamming the door. Aaron bit his lip.  
"He's destroying the whole place!", the Devil fumed. "It's costing us a fortune. Now suck him up, sugar, and get all the coins out of him that you can and-"

The Devil stared at Bendy, carried by the sparrow bat. His jaw dropped as the former bobbed his head to one side affectionately.  
"Ergh", the Devil backed off with disgust. "What's that _filthy rat_ doin' here?"

Bendy, insulted by his own father, frowned.  
"He's your...", Aaron began. Wait, he couldn't expose what happened to Bendy, or Chalice will have him killed.  
"Doesn't he look familiar to you?"

The Devil face palmed. Then, angry, he grabbed the boy by his collar and opened the door.  
"Familiar? Don't act stupid", he scorned.

Aaron got turned around as the Devil slapped his rear, pushing him into the almost destroyed room.  
The latter peeked into the room and made a meek, fake smile.  
"Here's Aaron!"  
The door slammed shut.

From the other side, the Devil lined his ear up against the wall and tried to listen carefully. Chips approached him.  
"Will Aaron be alright there?", he asked.  
"Wanna take his place?", the Devil asked threateningly.

Chips gulped in fear and backtracked from the door.

 

 

The whole room was full of dishes, meals, gambling tables and anything else anyone at the casino found useful to satisfy Pinkman, all in a horrendous mess. Grease from fish meals filthied the floor, the plates were scattered everywhere while the gambling tables were damaged only a bit or heavily beyond repair. Aaron was standing in the place, Bendy and the bat on his shoulder, looking at Pinkman.

On the other hand, Pinkman had more than enough. His body was now drastically larger, towering over Aaron. It was really thick and its limbs were like toothpicks, barely able to support it. His face changed the most — now his eyes had white small pupils while his mouth had visible, uneven teeth and drool dripping on the floor. Whenever Pinkman moved, the content in his stomach could be heard loudly.

Pinkman grabbed a plate of beignets.

"Try this, it's delicious", he said with Cuphead's voice.

He let go of the plate, shattering it.

"Want some coooooins?", he asked temptingly with voice of Mr. Chimes. "I ain't givin' them to anybody else!"

Aaron gave no reply. Bendy backed off a bit.

Pinkman approached Aaron and began luring him again with his voice full of malice.  
"What is it that you want, Ronny? You can tell me", he asked.

Aaron finally decided to speak up.  
"I'd like to leave, sir. There's a place I need to go and I have to leave now."

Pinkman froze in place, frowning.  
"You should go back to where you came from", Aaron said. "The Devil doesn't want you in the casino any longer."

Pinkman's frown became wider.  
"Where is your home? Don't you have any friends and family?", Aaron asked.

"No...", Pinkman whined, burying his face in his body, turning into one huge sphere, aimlessly stuttering. "I'm lonely... all alone..."

Pinkman got closer to Aaron, who backed off. Pinkman was desperate. He needed someone to care. He didn't have anywhere to go. He didn't have anyone as a friend. Well, Aaron was friendly enough towards him and Pinkman didn't give up the opportunity to treat him royally, but why was that?

Aaron took a deep breath.  
"What is it that you want?", he asked.

Pinkman showed his face again. He widened his eyes in despair and cried out.  
"I want Aaron... **I WANT AARON!!!** "

He took out his large hand, as big as Aaron's abdomen, full of coins and wrapping it around Aaron's neck like a shackle, the coins seeming much bigger.  
"Take it!"  
"Are you going to eat me?", Aaron asked daringly.  
"Take it."

Suddenly, Bendy bit Pinkman's finger. The ghost retracted it and examined it, finding the little mouse and the sparrow hooked on his finger. He just swatted it to fend Bendy off, but the bat saved him in time and returned to Aaron's shoulder.

"If you want to eat me...", Aaron said, "...eat this first."  
He reached his hand into his pocket, taking the other half of the emetic peach pit. He walked closer to Pinkman, who had his mouth still widely open.

"I was saving this for my parents, but I think it's better if I give it to you."

He threw everything that was left of the emetic onto Pinkman's tongue. The ghost swallowed it and froze for a moment. When suddenly-

Pinkman's tongue reflexively popped out, scattering large amounts of saliva on the floor as he began retching. Did it work?

Aaron backed away, feeling concerned. It was time to make Pinkman stop and it seemed that witnessing something disgusting in order to leave quickly was now the only option.

Pinkman turned around, knocking over some plates and tables. He stopped and resumed on retching, and then-

_**SPLAT.** _

Large amounts of vomit dripped from his mouth, him passing through an excruciating pain vomiting everything he has just eaten. Aaron backed off, his eyes widening and him gasping in surprise to the effects of the emetic. Pinkman was vomiting for 10 long seconds while the boy groped for the door.

"Ghah...", Pinkman retched, then slowly turned around. "Aaron..."

Aaron gasped in fear as he reached the door handle.

"Aaron, _**WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!**_ ", Pinkman roared, charging at him.

 

  
"SAVE YOURSELVES!!!", Aaron screamed while slamming the door open. The imp workers had only a few seconds to react, as-

 **JHSBGADUASYHGDAHDGVA** (sfx boi)

Pinkman crashed through the wall after Aaron. As the boy ran out from behind the corner, Pinkman, now a raging beast, slammed into the wall. Now everyone could see what Pinkman has turned into and they clung onto the walls, trying not to get stomped by the raging ghost.

Aaron was running as fast as never before, not hesitating and not deciding to look back. Bendy was carried by the bat at the same speed as Aaron.

Aaron reached the end of the hallway where the Devil appeared with his trident.  
" **ENOUGH!!!** ", he growled as Aaron ran past him. "Step aside Aaron, I don't care if he's rich."

Pinkman approached the Devil at a hazardous speed as he was pointed at with his trident.

"This nonsense's gotta stop!" He aimed at Pinkman and shot a large blue blast out of his trident.

The blast, at an immense velocity, hit the ghost right in his face. This only proved to be futile as it triggered Pinkman to eject large amounts of vomit right into the Devil.

The Devil gazed with disbelief as Pinkman vomited before you-know-what happened. Pinkman ran right over him.

As some of staff ran away, Pinkman rest on the railing, retching and vomiting some more before a familiar voice addressed him.  
"PINKMAN!!!", it was Aaron from the lower floor.

"OVER HERE!!!"

  
As Aaron ran further down the stairs, Pinkman chased him maniacally, leaving huge amounts of pink matter dripping like ink after him. Everyone who was in their way ran for their sake.

  
Reaching the very end of the stairway, Aaron reached the elevator that was descending, and quickly moved out of his way, causing Pinkman to crash into it.

Aaron, Bendy and the bat ran away as the patrons and staff exited the elevator in a hurry. Pinkman, frowning and all tired, struggled to get up as he, finally, spat out Cuphead and the greedy female imp. Confused and dizzy, they looked around themselves.

Pinkman was panting widly and resumed to the pursuit.  
"You'll pay for this, Aaron!", he monologued.

Aaron now felt safe to walk slower, carefully walking through the deepest parts of the casino. It seemed like he was trying to lure Pinkman somewhere... but where?

Halfway through in a hallway, Pinkman stopped and vomited a bit for the last time.

 

"Aaron, over here!", Arin shouted. She was standing on a handcar that was on the tracks. Aaron got out through a door on a balcony and made his way down to the tracks.

Aaron jumped on the handcar as Arin began working with the lever. Bendy and the bat rest on his head as the handcar began moving along.

Pinkman, standing on a large marble bridge connected to the walls of the cave, desperately looked in Aaron's direction.

Aaron grabbed his bow tie and removed it and unbuttoning his vest, folding them and putting them on the handcar, having completely changed from his uniform.  
"HEY, PINKMAN, OVER HERE!!!", he shouted at the top of his lungs.  
"Don't call him over!", Arin said while moving the handcar.

The handcar slowly made its way out of the cave.  
"Pinkman was wild because he was in the casino", Aaron explained. "He needs somewhere to go!"  
"Yeah, but where?", Arin asked.  
"I don't know", Aaron replied.

Pinkman jumped from the bridge onto the ground below.

"You don't know, eh... great, now he's followin' us."

Pinkman turned to a puff of pink smoke after splattering on the ground, but he quickly reformed to his normal form.  
"He won't hurt us!", Aaron tried to assure Arin as the ghost reformed.

Shortly after reforming, Pinkman panted and retched, spitting out Mr. Chimes, and began approaching the handcar along the tracks. Mr. Chimes, who was out cold for a moment, quickly gained back consciousness and began running back towards the casino.

The handcar reached a pair of bumpers. Aaron got off.  
"You'll have to walk to the station from here along those tracks. The station is further down", Arin said, pointing at another set of tracks not far away from the bumpers.  
"Thanks, Arin", Aaron said.  
"You better come back!", she added.

Arin began backtracking and sighed. Then, still working with the lever, she looked in Aaron's direction and addressed him.  
"Aaron!", she yelled. "I'm sorry that I called ya a dolt before! I take it back!"

Aaron turned to her and waved in response.  
Arin turned back and smiled, but her smile was replaced with expression of threat when Pinkman passed by her.

"Pinkman!", she addressed the ghost threateningly. "If ya lay even a single scratch on that boy, yer in big trouble!"

  
Aaron, Bendy and the bat advanced to the station, along with Pinkman far behind.


	15. On the Train

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron, Pinkman, Bendy and the bat board the train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My school begins the day after tomorrow, and I plan making three more chapters and then the story will end.

Aaron, Bendy and the bat walked along the tracks until they reached the station. The train had yet to arrive and the station was empty. It looked like it was abandoned for years.

Aaron carefully prepared the tickets in case the train arrived soon. Looking around, he spotted Pinkman.

The ghost was still walking along the tracks, wanting help from Aaron after all that madness in the casino. But he was slow. Aaron was afraid that Pinkman wouldn't make it in time.  
"Pinkman, come on!", Aaron shouted.

Then, a loud steam whistle was heard. Aaron looked as a large pillar of steam rose in the air behind the tree. He gasped.  
"The train!"

Phantom Express came from around the corner. It was very peculiar for a train. The locomotive itself was alive and gradually slowed down as it reached the station. It was blue and purple. It appeared to be a pretty nice fit for the dead. Speaking of it... there were rumors that this train was for the dead only, but since Aaron's contract still existed, he would surely be accepted aboard.  
Pinkman, upon noticing the train, sported a worried expression and hurried towards the station.

The train slowly stopped at the station. Aaron waited for the doors of carriages to open. He began climbing in with Bendy and the bat. He planned on asking the conductor to wait a bit longer for Pinkman.

The conductor greeted the three passengers. His name was **T-Bone**. He was a skeleton with a red hat and golden name tag.  
"Tickets, please", he asked with a deep voice.

Aaron reached his hand down into his pocket and showed the tickets.  
"We would like to go to Kettle Road", Aaron asked.

T-Bone took the tickets, examined them and pointed his fingers at the three, counting them.  
"One, two, three... and...", he pointed behind.

Aaron turned around and saw Pinkman. He wanted to bring him to this voyage to let the ghost find himself somewhere different.  
"Oh! Would you like to come too?", Aaron asked cheerfully.

Pinkman nodded.

"He'd like to", Aaron told T-Bone.

"Alright, everything's in order. All aboard!"

  
T-Bone retreated to the caboose as Aaron looked around.

The carriage was lit enough for him to look around, but otherwise looked like the real boat to river Styx. It had mauve seats and window frames and pink wooden floor.

The seats were occupied by various people. But they looked far from ordinary. They were all monochromatic and had faces similar to ghosts. They were transparent and rarely sat together. They were definitely the souls of the dead.

Aaron slowly walked over to one open spot on the seats. Now, due to Pinkman coming on this journey with him after successfully calming him down, he was able to keep him at bay and stop him from causing any damage or tantrums.  
"Sit", Aaron ordered. Pinkman obliged and sat next to him.  
"And behave."  
Pinkman nodded and sighed in approval. Bendy and the bat got off Aaron's shoulder and sat on the windowframe.

Phantom Express whistled loudly and started departing from the station. The journey to save King Dice was on the roll.

  
The train was going from this very spot to many destinations on Inkwell Isle. The sun was setting quickly.   
As Bendy and the bat admired the view, Aaron carefully observed each destination. Most of the times, at least one person would get off with their luggage or without any at all.  
En route to the Kettle Road, Aaron observed one scene the most.

It was on Inkwell Isle 2 on the crossroads where the balloon tree was located. There were two middle aged women, both having gloomy looks. One looked like a psycho, holding a cigar in one hand and smoking, in spite, in other one's face. The latter was constantly holding her hand on her chest, as if she was in pain or... bleeding.   
They both had dice as their heads. Were they...

...

  
. . .

  
...?

Well... Aaron stared at the scene.

There was also another person, dressed as a poor person in winter, with a hat covering his eyes.

A dead man, who had a pyramid for a head, had one green eye and yellow eye, along with a messy moustache. Stuttering, he got off the train and into the hug of two women. He was surely their relative, a husband, brother, father-in-law, anything. Aaron didn't want to speculate.

The train began departing again as sun, setting below the horizon, shot through the window. Then, Aaron spotted someone.

It was a young woman. Her head was a die tilted by 45 degrees. Its pips were blue and there were three of them, the middle one acting as a nose and the other ones like makeup blush. She had a long, short sleeved blue dress and black boots. Her halo resembled a crown. She seemed far different from anyone else Aaron had noticed on the train stops and the train itself.

Who was she?

Half an hour later, the train, now bathing in faint red sun rays, made its way to the checkpoint between Isle 2 and Isle 1.

 

  
Back at the casino, in the Devil's tower, the Big Boss was wearing a bathrobe and sitting on his throne in the living room, next to the fireplace. Cuphead, Mugman, Chips, Whiskey and Mr. Chimes were in the room. It was all completely silent and the Devil was shivering in anger. After Pinkman gave him... uh... you know?... well, moving back on, taking a long, cold bath to clean himself the Devil felt pissed off already.

Next to him, there was a table with a black hat, having a huge heap of Pork Coins, everything that the staff had managed to get from Pinkman. The other side of the room was in a huge mess with candy wrappers, boxes and various other things, including spilled candy and junk food that the Bendy decoy was maniacally feasting on.

The Devil groaned in discomfort.  
"Look at this", he pointed at the coins. "This money doesn't even cover one percent of the damage caused by Pinkman."

He crossed his arms and gained an angry expression.  
"It's all the fault of that rascal Aaron. He needs to be punished."

"But...", Whiskey began.  
"Sir!", Mugman added. "You see..."  
"It was Aaron who saved us from Pinkman!", Mr. Chimes continued.  
"Yeah, even though it was kinda disgusting in the end, at least he tricked Pinkman into leaving!", Chips said.  
"Also Pinkman's stomach was one hell of an experience!", Cuphead jumped into the conversation. He was wrapped in a blanket after that "one hell of an experience".  
"Cuphead, please don't", Mugman sighed.

" **I DON'T CARE!!!** ", the Devil roared, banging on the table, enough for one coin on the heap to roll down and clink against the floor. The five silenced.  
"ALL THIS MESS IS HIS FAULT! And now he's gone. That coward's _EVEN ABANDONED HIS OWN PARENTS!_ "

The Devil stopped and sported a malicious grin.  
"Speaking of them, they should be old enough for my eternal servitude in Inkwell Hell, aren't I right?", he asked.  
The cup brothers cringed in fear, Mr. Chimes held on his head in disbelief, Chips wagged his hands in denial while Whiskey had an expression of anxiety.

"One moment, Boss", Dice said. Everyone looked at him as he closed the door.

The Devil gasped.  
"M-Mister King Dice?", he asked, before squinting his eyes in malice.  
"You're still alive..."

Dice stopped himself on one spot and had a bored expression.  
"Tell me... haven't ya noticed that somethin' precious to you's been replaced?", he asked.  
"You tell me since when is that the way to address your boss", the Devil replied.

 

There was only silence in the room. Well, Bendy decoy was still eating like a maniac.

The Devil looked at the heap of coins. It really was Bendy who was replaced, but the foolish demon didn't have the slightest idea.

He grabbed one of the coins, hoping that something's up with that.

The Devil examined the coin carefully. It was looking slightly different.

Whiskey grabbed the coin that was on the floor and examined it as well. No one noticed anything different.

The Devil grinned at Dice, who hasn't changed his serious expression. The Devil felt his grin fade away, until-

 

 _ **CRUNCHY AND MUNCHY**_ (someone give me the award for sfx)

 

The Devil looked annoyingly at Bendy decoy, who was eating the food at a fast pace... the real Bendy _was_ spoiled and a bit greedy, but not this far. The imps that were holding the decoy together were far from a solution to proper Bendy's personality.

The Devil gave a glare of confusion and snapped his fingers.

The decoy shapeshifted back to his blue imps standing on a stack supporting each other. The one on the top continued eating until all three looked at their boss.

The Devil and the imps shared looks of shock as the imps fell apart from the stack and had their falls cushioned by wrappers and boxes. The Devil's expression gained worry and fright as the imps were flying away from the mess and out through the door. Cup brothers, Chips, Whiskey and Mr. Chimes just stared with no words.

"Ah...", the Devil whimpered in fear. "M-my baby!"

Then, a combustion noise was heard as the heap of the coins burnt into a heap of dirt. This was the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

" **NO!!!** ", he roared loudly, shoving the hat into Cuphead's face and running out of the room. He was enraged and had enough.

The dirt spilled on the floor as Mr. Chimes took one speck of it. The five were surprised.  
"It's just dirt!", the monkey said with surprise.

In a second, the Devil was making a horrendous mess in Bendy's room, flipping cushions and toys over and diving into the heaps of the same kind, desperately looking for his son.  
"W-where are you?!", he asked, almost crying. "Come out! **COME OUT!!!** "

Dice walked into the room and put his hand on one side of his abdomen, staring at the Devil making the moss.

"WHERE?!", the Devil screamed, before stopping and looking at Dice.

"Y-you...", he scorned, his eyes turning red.

" **WHERE IS HE?!?!?** ", the Devil growled, having a look that would scare even the scariest criminals of this world. He ran up to Dice and looked down at him, having increased in size a few feet towering above him.  
" **WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY?!** "

Dice had an annoyed expression and slapped his boss.  
"He's with your sister!", he replied quickly before the Devil managed to react to his own lackey slapping him.

"CH-CHALICE???", the Devil asked, fire gushing out of his ears. He turned around, having a shocked look and walked over to a chair in the room, collapsing into it.

"W-well...", he sighed, "It appears that she got my butt kicked."  
"Not for long", Dice smirked his eyes becoming green. "I have a... request."  
"A request?", the Devil jumped from the chair, hoping that it would bring Bendy back.

He fell on his knees and grasped Dice's pants with his claws, big pink tears streaming down his cheeks.  
"P-please... t-tell me what i-it is... anything to b-bring Bendy back!", he cried. Whoa, he surely was a desperate father and... heh... a bit of a crybaby.

"I'll make sure Bendy returns to the casino safe and sound", Dice said. "And in exchange, let Aaron and his parents free out of this place."  
"W-well...", the Devil meekly purred and got up, "Alright, but let me add somethin'."

He put his chin on his fingers in thinking expression.  
"Let's only spice it up by giving him one final test", he grinned. "If he fails..."  
"His soul is _mine_. **For good.** "


	16. Teatime at Chalice's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron, Pinkman, Bendy and the bat are on their way to meet Legendary Chalice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I began writing this chapter slowly after school began, so here we are! Also, I plan on the 18th chapter being the final one.
> 
> Enjoy!!!

The Phantom Express slowly started screeching, large amounts of steam leaving the locomotive and into the air, decorating the pure night sky. It was night time by the moment the train arrived to Inkwell Isle 1. The sky was dotted with stars as if someone took a paintbrush and spun it carefully on each and every corner of the horizon. The decoration was fulfilled with the half-moon.

Aaron, Bendy and the bat and Pinkman got off the train onto a solid concrete platform next to the tracks. A few moments after, the train whistled spookily, setting off as large pillars of steam rose from the chimney of the locomotive. Aaron smiled and waved gracefully at the train as T-Bone, noticing from the caboose, waved back and ventured back into the carriages. A second later, the train was gone beneath the forest trees.

 

Aaron took a moment to examine the area.

They were located on a large meadow, two opposite sides giving the ocean view. One side of the meadow had a wooden bridge that connected two parts of this island. There were also two guideposts shaped like hands, their index fingers pointing to the directions.

One guidepost said "The Pond Club" and was pointing at the staircase that was leading down to the ponds. Faint cheers and jazz could be heard.   
The other guidepost said "Your Forest Foes" and was pointing at the large forest.

When Aaron was little, he was always told to keep out of that forest as many hostile plants and beings reside in there. He also heard the stories of some people who have gone on the way to enter that forest all determined and in perfect condition, and then return all broken and melancholic, or... not at all.

Aaron looked over next to the forest and noticed a path decorated by trees on both sides. If that was the Kettle Road, then it could all be solved there. Chalice will either greet him as a friend or...

To make sure, Aaron looked at the train station which was poorly designed, with only two benches and the ticket booth. He looked at the clock, only to find out it has stopped working ever since the Great War. If he examined the station first, he would tell you they've mistaken and left the train at the wrong station.

"I'm pretty sure this is the right stop", Aaron told Pinkman. "So... let's go."

And then they began walking towards the path.

 

  
Aaron and Pinkman walked on the moonlight while Bendy was carried by the bat. The night had the fresh atmosphere and there was not even the slightest breeze. Aaron felt slightly unsafe to go through the unknown parts of Inkwell Isle at night, knowing that anything could jump at him from the dark. But even then, he would decide not to lose determination and bravely kept walking on.

Then, the boy heard tired panting sounds. It was the bat that stuck out his tongue, slowly descending to the ground, tired from holding Bendy in the air all the time. When Bendy made his way to the ground, the bat lied on his back as the mouse looked left and right, then slowly walked forward.

Aaron looked at Bendy for a moment, then crouched and cut Bendy's way with his spread hand.

"You can ride on my shoulder if you want", Aaron offered.

However, Bendy ignored him and avoided his hand, tending to walk on his own.   
Aaron got surprised. It seemed that not only did they have one hell of a time traversing the tunnels of Inkwell Hell, running from Pinkman and riding the train, but Bendy also learned that he can't always rely on others to give him what he wants. He sometimes has to do it on his own.

Reaching the beginning of the path, the four stopped, noticing a light heading for their direction. When the anonymous figure emerged from the trees, it unveiled themself as an anthropomorphic candle. They were wearing a cream blazer over a white shirt and brown pants.

The candle was bouncing on their way to meet the group and stopped in front of them.

It had a feminine body and the top of her head had a black straw lit on fire. It was a rather large source of light.

She introduced herself.  
"Greetings! I'm Chalice's _travelling candle_."

She looked at the boy and smiled.  
"You must be Aaron!"  
The travelling candle bowed down in a polite way. When she did this, a drop of wax splat on the ground.

Aaron chuckled while Pinkman stared at the scene uncomfortably.

"Oops!", the candle cheered. "Anyway... Legendary Chalice lives this way! Follow me!"

The candle began hopping into the path, Aaron, Pinkman and Bendy having to keep up with her pace. Golly, this woman was pretty energetic for a candle. Her youth gave her all the ecstasy and fuel to be hyperactive in evening.

A bit further down the path, the candle stopped at a tree and wiped her forehead, splatting some wax on the ground.  
"Phew, jumpin' can take so much effort!", she remarked. "Keep followin' me, boys!"

 

Aaron, Pinkman, Bendy and the bat kept following her until they have reached a cottage. It looked similar to a mushroom and marble tiles that lead towards the door.

The five reached the door and the candle jumped into a little vintage lantern just above the door.  
"Good luck!", she saluted as she closed the lantern's door, decreased and turned into a common candle.

Alright, it was time to get into the house.

 

Aaron knocked politely on the door. After waiting for a moment, the door opened.

However, the house was empty. Aaron and Pinkman looked inside, facing a large living room with a fireplace, a table on a carpet, a sofa and an armchair. There was a cupboard with a gramophone and a sword hung on the wall.

"Come in!", Legendary Chalice's voice beckoned. However, she was behind the door that was widely open and she was basically concealed.

Aaron walked inside the house (Bendy and the bat on his shoulder) with Pinkman following after. The ghost, unsure if they are safe at all, frowned while slowly entering.

"Come on, I ain't got the whole day", Chalice ordered.

Pinkman made a little more steps inside after which Chalice shut the door.  
"Welcome boys", she greeted.

Chalice now looked different, the obvious difference was now having an actual opaque body instead of wandering as a ghost. Her head now had a yellow striped straw. She had a dark blue sweater with a turtleneck, a knee-length blue skirt and golden shoes.

"Sit at the table", she said. "I'll go make some tea."

Chalice went to the kitchen where she took a kettle and poured some water, then turned on the burner and set the water to boil.  
Aaron followed her in, planning on instantly returning the Super Art.

He reached into the bulgy pocket of his pants, taking out the cup. He turned around to Pinkman, who frowned and stood in place. It seemed that he had yet to adapt to the new environment.

Aaron approached Chalice with Bendy and the bat on his shoulder and decided to return the Super Art.

"Ch-Chalice?", he muttered. She looked at him.  
"I... got back your Super Art."

Aaron handed out the cup, and Chalice gently grabbed it by the handle and looked in Aaron's eyes.  
"Do you have any idea what this is?", she smirked.

"Yeah...", Aaron began, "It's your Super Art magic and I realized that it's really important to you, despite I don't really know its effects. But anyway, I'm here to apologize on behalf of King Dice. I'm very sorry!"  
Aaron bowed as a sign of respect, Pinkman further away in the dining room did the same.

"He smashed my urn, ya know", she added. "I'm still a bit angry."

Chalice stopped and gazed at the cup, examining it.  
"Huh?", she asked confusedly. "The protective spell is gone!"

"Eh...", Aaron said nervously.  
"Sorry, but do you mean that black slug that was on the cup? I, uh... squashed it with my foot."

Chalice's eyes widened as she looked at Aaron.  
" _SQUASHED IT?!_ ", she asked, before bursting into laughter, as if it was the funniest joke she's heard in ages.

"That wasn't **my** slug!", she chuckled. "Devs put that slug in Dice so he could keep his contract on full force..."  
"And guess what? You _**SQUASHED IT!**_ ", she began laughing again, her young voice echoing the dining room and her fist banging the cupboard to calm herself down.

She put her hand on Aaron's shoulder and lead him to the table.  
"What happened to my spell? Only love and care can break it..."

Aaron stopped near the table and showed Bendy and the bat on his shoulder.  
"Can you at least turn them back to their normal forms?"

She looked at the two.  
"The spell on ya two li'l ones wore off long ago, change back if ya want at any time!"

Bendy and the bat on his back looked at each other and shook their heads, thinking they still need to learn something from this trip.

 

Bendy and the bat were working on a spindle on full steam. Bendy was running inside on the wheel while the bat ran on the outer side. They were still in their transformations, but decided to get a taste of having to work as one final lesson on this journey. From time to time, the two stopped several times to catch breath, but didn't ever decide to give up.

The table was fully occupied with a strawberry cake, a bowl of pink sugar, a platter of cookies and one plate with a tea kettle. Pinkman politely sipped tea and ate the slice of cake while Chalice was chatting with Aaron.

"I don't get along with my brother", she spoke. "That **furry brat** is _so sassy!_ You've seen how his penthouse at the casino looks like, right? We've been created by the same source and yet we are so different..."

As she sipped tea, Bendy and the bat crawled up onto the table and took two cookies as a refreshment, then got back to work.

Chalice put the cup on the table.  
"My condolences that he turned your parents into imps, but there ain't nothing I can do! It's just... the way things are. King Dice and your parents are the people you'll have to help on your own at this point. Think and remember!"

Aaron gasped in confusion.  
"Could you give me more hint than that?", he asked. "I don't know why, but... I feel that... I met King Dice a long time ago."

She raised her finger in the air, shooting out a blue blast that exploded into the air like a firework.  
"That's a good start, boy! Meet someone and ya ain't really forgetting them! It won't take long and you're gonna remember as if it was yesterday!"

She got up from her chair and turned to Pinkman.

"Pinks, Bendy and I are gonna make you something. And I'd like you to call me aunt, m'kay?", she said.

Aaron nodded and looked down pensively.

  
Pinkman, Bendy, the bat and Chalice worked hard on spinning whatever it was. Bendy and the bat were running by full force, Chalice was searching the yarn boxes, and Pinkman worked marvelously.

"Pinkman!", Chalice asked in amazement. "Where did ya learn how to spin the thread?! You're really good at this!"

Aaron was sitting on the other side of the living room, thinking about anything he could possibly remember, going through all his memories and experiences, but...

"A-right, boys, now let's knit them together!", Chalice exclaimed, taking the needles and two yarn balls.

"Yeah! That's right!", Chalice said while they worked on the threads. Bendy was making a jumbled shapeless object, still good for a beginner. However, Pinkman was working like a professional, long red fabric spreading from the conjunction of needles.

Soon enough, Pinkman finished and Chalice gently took it, admiring it. She took the sewing scissors and began adjusting it. Soon, she took two metal pieces and... what was she making?

Aaron pensively approached Chalice with a frown.

"Aunt Chalice...", he began as she turned around, "I-I simply _can't_ r-remember anything at all!"  
His eyes widened with anxiety.

"King Dice could be d-dead already while I'm just s-standing here!"  
He began tearing up.  
"M-my mum and dad could end up serving to the Devil forever!"

Then Aaron broke down, his tears streaming down his cheeks from all the anxiety that pressed his mind against the line of sanity. He wiped his tears as he cried softly.

Chalice felt sorry for Aaron's predicament and decided not to let him lose all the hope.

"Just wait a bit more...", she requested, wrapping something that was on the table.  
"There we go!"

She gave him a big, crimson bow tie and put it in his hands. Aaron examined the bow tie. He thought he had never touched the thread as soft as this one before. It was made by threading, but it looked so smooth as if it was made with normal fabric. He stared at it for a moment before looking at Chalice.

"It's... beautiful!", he said.  
"It'll protect you", Chalice added, "And it's made of thread your emotions on this journey wore together!"

"Thank you!", Aaron said and reached his hands behind his neck, buckling up the straps of the bow tie.

As he was tying his bow tie, the windows trembled as something large and noisy roamed around the house and then stopped. Chalice gazed at the door.

"What a good timing! Another guest! Aaron, won't ya let him in?", Chalice exclaimed.  
"Sure!", Aaron replied, fixing his bow tie and running up to the door.

Aaron slowly approached the door and turned on the handle.

He opened the door and he had what to see. He saw something that made him gasp in amazement and happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter, expect some ~~edgy~~ notes and summaries, I mean... notes and summaries that have to do with that chapter...
> 
> Oops, I think I spoiled something.


	17. A Reprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron recalls something.
> 
> Something that he was unsure of.  
> Something that made him experience self-doubt.  
> Something that...
> 
> ...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something happens...
> 
> Aaron felt something strange.  
> But what?  
> ...  
> Was something happening all over again?

Aaron opened the door and he gasped with surprise and happiness.

 

King Dice was in his dragon form in front of the cottage, his fur shining on the moonlight and flapping on the breeze. Aaron didn't even know where could his happiness begin from. He stayed alive thanks to boy's feelings of unselfishness, bravery and love, and now was here as a sign of gratitude.

 

Aaron's mouth extended in a wide, happy smile and he ran up to Dice.

"King Dice!", he shouted.

Once he reached Dice, he hugged his snout tightly and smiled.  
"Thank goodness...", he whispered, though it could be barely called a whisper due to ecstasy he felt. "You are alive! I can't believe it! How did this happen..."

 

Legendary Chalice and Pinkman walked out of the cottage and beheld the scene. The former smiled and approached them.  
"Well, ain't that care?", she said with a friendly voice.

"Look, aunt Chalice!", Aaron exclaimed happily as he looked at her. "He's alive!"

Aaron looked in confusion as Dice suddenly bowed down to Chalice.

"King Dice", Chalice began, "I will forgive you for stealing my Super Art. But in return, please take care of Aaron."

She looked at Bendy and the bat that carried him in air next to her and whispered.  
"M'kay, ya two, time to go home! Hope to see ya soon!"

Bendy and the bat kissed Chalice's nose, then began approaching Aaron and Dice. Chalice turned to Pinkman.

"Hm, Pinkman!", she asked. The ghost looked at her.  
"Why don'tcha stay here? I could use a good apprentice!"

Pinkman smiled happily and nodded several times, faint 'Mhm's being heard.

 

Aaron let go of Dice, pensively, then quickly walked towards Chalice.  
"Aunt!", he yelled, running into the hug.  
"Thank you so much! I'll miss you...", he said.  
"Don't worry, Aaron... You'll be alright!", Chalice responded.

Aaron moved out of the hug, then looked in Chalice's eyes with a glance of honesty.

"I want you to know my real name!", he said, "It's Neville!"

"Neville...", Chalice whispered, "What a nice name! Take good care of it."

"I will", Aaron replied.  
"Off you go."  
"Okay! Bye!"

Aaron crawled onto Dice and held tightly on his cards collar. Once more, he looked at Chalice as wind played with his hair. Bendy on his shoulder waved.  
"Aunt Chalice! Stay safe and thanks for everything! Bye!"

Suddenly, Dice turned around and began flying low to ground, preparing to make a route into the air and all the way to the other side of Inkwell Isles. First it was a bit scary to ride a dragon, but Aaron got the hang of it.

Then, King Dice finally began lifting off as Chalice, Pinkman and the traveling candle all waved them from the distance.

 

 

Time for a flight!

 

 

Dice was soaring through the sky over the dense forests of Inkwell Isle 1. Aaron looked at the sight before him and thought he had never seen more beautiful picture in his life. Moonlit Inkwell Isles were absolutely astonishing, but he stayed quiet. He could only look at the vast ocean surrounding the land they were flying across.

 

Looking down to his right, Aaron saw the lights of the nightclub by the swamp shore of Inkwell Isle 1 for flies and frogs. And he could see the observatory of Hilda Berg, the most famous meteorologist in the land. The attractions of Inkwell Isle 2 were gleaming with pride and activity, many folks having an amazing time in the evening. And Inkwell Isle 3 was all dotted with lights of the buildings.

 

Aaron paid special attention to a large open area of Inkwell Isle 2. Then...

 

...

. . .

. . .

He felt like something struck him.

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
"Hey, li'l fella, what's wrong?"

 

"I... I got lost and... I don't know what to do..."

 

"Don't worry, happens all the time. And... I ain't gonna hurt ya."

 

"B-but... where are my parents...?"

 

"Here is how we'll find them."

 

The unknown dapper figure walked the boy to the entrance of the touristic area. They sat on a bench as the man tried to calm little boy down.  
A woman, hardly holding her tears back and cupping her jaw with hands, walked with someone who seemed like her husband or a fiancé. He was anxious.

 

"H-he can't be too far away, don't worry darling... It's gonna be fine, he... he cannot be REALLY lost... or..."

 

Then they looked at the bench where the boy was. They both ran towards him, hugged him and began crying tears of joy.

"You're safe!", the woman cried happily.  
"How did you get here? Are you hurt? Did something happen?"  
"I got helped...", the boy replied and pointed at the man next to him.

 

The woman and her husband/fiancé looked at the man, who looked back nervously. They didn't seem mad at all, instead they pulled him up off the bench. The woman was shaking his hand wildly in gratitude and her husband/fiancé reached into his wallet.  
"How shall we thank you?", they asked.

 

"I don't desire money, but thanks, folks", the man replied.

He turned to leave in other direction as the two looked at him.  
"Wait!", they shouted.  
The man stopped and turned around.  
"Could you at least tell us your name?"  
The man smiled and opened his mouth.

 

* * *

 

 

Aaron's eyes and mouth widened as he recalled of what happened in the very end. He felt strange. He felt something important. It felt like there was a blast from the past. An event that occurred randomly. It really was different than what Aaron was feeling after this recall. It didn't feel like a weird memory. He felt like a certain detail from his past was just repeating.

 

Aaron felt like...  
...he was living _**a REPRISE.**_

 

Aaron looked down at Dice, who was still soaring through sky, not giving up from this adventure.

He finally decided to reveal something.

But he didn't know one thing.

He would reveal this recall that just occurred.

One simple recall...  
...was about to change it all.

 

  
Aaron cleared his throat.

"Dice, listen!", the boy exclaimed. Dice lightly twitched his ear to give a sign that he's listening.  
"I just remembered something from a long time ago, and I think it'll be able to help you!"

He took a deep breath of courage.  
"Once when I was little, I got lost at the funfair on Inkwell Isle 2. I felt like there was no one who would help me... I didn't know where my parents were... I was so worried that I'd be done for. But then... someone... came up to me. They... t-they decided to help! They took me to the entrance of the fair where he was sure that my parents would find me. One or two hours had passed, and I was worried, but then... my parents came soon! They were pretty grateful and, heh... even wanted to pay him, but he only agreed to introduce himself. I finally recall..."

 

He whispered.

  
"The man introduced himself as... Kingsley Hearts."

 

He gasped in surprise and inched his mouth closer to Dice's ear.

"It think that was you, and that your real name is: **KINGSLEY HEARTS!** "

 

 

 

  
King Dice's eyes widened with surprise. His fur froze in place, and slowly started to shift and peel, turning into a large number of playing cards turning into a huge pack as they filled the air. Aaron gasped as they blocked his view and he slowly lost the supports and felt like he was going to fall. Bendy and the bat had to hold on tightly.

Gigantic number of cards appeared in the air, leaving the trail of where Dice just flew by. Speaking of Dice... the cards completely left to reveal his normal form, looking out cold.

 

Aaron, still conscious, caught his arm while falling. Bendy and the bat left the boy's shoulder and tried to fly, but had to be cautious because they had to pick up with their pace. Dice extended his hand, still not making an eye contact, then them both turning around and facing each other.

Aaron looked into Dice's eyes. They were shining with pride and happiness. The tails of his tailcoat were flapping loosely. The boy just stared in surprise.

"You did it, Neville!", King Dice shouted with happiness. "I remember — I was from a family that was... heh... bound for hell!"  
"T-the dapper man?", Neville/Aaron smilingly asked.  
"My name _is_ Kingsley and I was the one to inherit the hearts in my family", he replied.  
"They changed the whole place of Inkwell Isle 2!", Neville/Aaron said while tears of joy filled his eyes. "There are all various attractions now! And... I think that your family is..."  
"I know", he replied, "And that's how I can't remember my home! But... I remember seeing you at the fair, and I remember what a cutie boy you were then!"  
"So... you were the one who took me to safety! You saved me!", Aaron's smile going wider as tears of joy slowly flew up, up and away. He couldn't describe how happy he was.

Then, he hugged Dice and began crying how happy he was, finally sure that he was his savior for all the time.  
" _I knew you were good!_ "

Bendy and the bat, on the other hand, through this emotional fall, still had a rough time flying while Bendy tried to catch a tear in their path. It splat on his belly.

 

While they were nearing the surface of the sea, Dice pulled out a card of hearts. It enlarged and turned into a flying carpet for all four to fly. The carpet began flying towards the casino as the sun slowly rose on the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa! Anyway, how are ya, folks? I know I have been off for a long time, but I did try to upload the new chapter today. I hope you enjoyed it! And stay tuned for the finale! Again, it might not be as soon as I could upload the chapters in the beginning, but it will probably be mid-October. See you all!


	18. The Final Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more challenge.  
> One more. And Neville and his family are free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey! Eh... sorry for delaying this chapter. School's been kinda getting in my way for past few weeks, but it all worked out now! Here is the finale of my work! Enjoy!

The sunlight shined through cracks in the cavern and refracted through windows of the casino. It decorated the floor like an ornament, with visible dust particles flying in the air. The air was filled with a soft morning ambiance and quiet.

 

However, the Devil was anxious.

Casino staff, some patrons and Devil's imps were gathered in lobby's upper floor, all looking through windows, patiently waiting for something or someone. They were deeply focused on whatever or whoever it was.

On the other hand, the Devil walked impatiently back and forth, sweat trailing down his forehead with a dead look in his eyes. In his hand, he was cluthing Aaron/Neville's soul contract. Next to him were twelve imps, standing still and looking straight in front of them.

 

  
Arin looked left and right for a moment through a large window and gasped.

"There they are!", she exclaimed.

The Devil looked up at the said window. He saw King Dice and Neville/Aaron approaching the casino on the card acting as the magic carpet.

"Open the window!", he shouted.

  
The imps unlocked the window and the carpet flew inside the room in a triumph, astonishing everyone present with this sudden appearance. Dice and Neville/Aaron waited for a few moments before the carpet slowly descended.

  
Neville/Aaron got off the carpet and Dice snapped his fingers, the card reverting back to its normal size and jumping in the pocket of his tailcoat.

The Devil tapped his foot against the floor in unamusement, while glaring at Dice, then striking Neville/Aaron with an icy stare.

"Great timing, you good-for-nothing punk", the Devil scorned. "I see you and Dice failed to bring my boy back!"

 

"SURPRISE!!!", a young voice exclaimed from above.

The Devil gazed at the window while Neville/Aaron exchanged a smile, knowing who it is.

 

The Devil's bat, back to its normal form, rushed into the casino with Bendy holding on its legs. At this great speed, this felt like a totally amazing circus perfomance.  
Bendy let go of the bat's legs and did a few backflips before crashing with the Devil.

The bat, exhausted, sat on the railing of the upper floor.  
"Hey, ya *hic* did good, man...", Whiskey whispered to the bat.

They exchanged a high-five, or... high-wing?

  
The Devil got up and laughed with happiness.

  
"Papa!", Bendy exclaimed happily.  
" **YOU'RE ALIVE!!!** ", the Devil screamed, his joy knowing no limits.  
He began examining every inch of his ink child.  
"Are you traumatized? Did they do terrible things to you? Did you want to go home?"

  
The Devil stopped and let go of Bendy, looking at him standing firmly and leaning back and forth on his shoes, smiling at his father. His mouth widened in a joyful smile.

  
"WELL YOU'RE STANDING ON YOUR OWN!!!", the overjoyed father asked, hugging him tightly. "SINCE WHEN COULD YA DO THAT?!"

 

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Boss", Dice said, the Devil directing his unamused look at him.  
"Don't forget your promise! Now it's time for you to bring back Neville and his parents back to the human world."  
Neville/Aaron nodded affirmatively. The Devil groaned.

"Leaving so soon?", the Devil asked. "I still get to give him one final test, ya know."

  
Cuphead, Mugman, Arin, Chips, Mr. Wheezy and literally everyone else from the staff gazed at the Devil in disappointment and nonsatisfaction. Neville/Aaron suddenly became a martyr to everyone

Arin rolled her sleeves up and raised her fist in the air.  
"Did y'all just hear that? We've got to save Aaron from the dictator!"

"Yeah! Let him go!", Chips shouted.

The whole nonsatisfied crowd yelled at the Devil to let Neville/Aaron go without tormenting him through this test. The Devil's face was boiling with anger.

" **SHUT UP!!!** ", he screamed at the crowd. The whole crowd turned silent and everyone zipped their mouth with fear. No one dared to say another word of opposing to the Devil.

"Stop it, papa, leave him alone!", Bendy scolded his father.

"Huh?", the Devil looked down at his son, feeling strange for his own ink creation telling him what to do.  
"Aaron and I had a really good time!", Bendy smiled. The bat on the upper floor nodded.

The Devil frowned, his eyes squinting in desolation.  
"But... a deal is a deal, sweetie! I simply have to give Aaron one final test!"

Bendy looked at the Devil with confidence, feeling cross and defensive for Neville/Aaron.

"If you make Aaron cry, I will not like you anymore!", he pointed at the Devil. The Devil just looked at him, feeling hesitation and worry. Patrons and the staff glared at him, feeling cross with him. Was he supposed to be ridiculed in front of everyone in the casino?

"Hey, uncle!", Neville/Aaron shouted, talking to the Devil.

The Devil looked at him, feeling weird with the way he was just addressed.  
"U-Uncle?!", he asked annoyingly.

"You're right! A deal is a deal!"

Neville/Aaron walked up towards the Devil. The whole room was dead quiet. Bendy, concerned, moved out of the way as the boy pierced the Devil's eyes with his stare. Neville was not that one pessimistic and sullen boy just more than a week ago. He was ready for whatever was in front of him. He did not feel any fear. His heart was beating, but he stayed calm. Whatever the Devil has in store, let him bring it on.

"I'm ready. I'll take your test", Neville/Aaron said.

"Heh, ya got guts", the Devil replied. He unrolled the scroll in his hand.

 _**AARON** _  
_"I hereby grant unto Devil, the ruler of Inkwell Hell, my soul."_

Aaron looked at his very own soul contract. It was the matter of time the fate of that scroll shall be decided.  
"I got your contract here, so follow me."

The Devil advanced further into the lobby, with Neville/Aaron following behind. The staff members, Bendy, the bat and King Dice all looked at the boy, waiting for the moment of truth to occur.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine", the boy whispered to Bendy while passing by.

Neville/Aaron looked at the imps the Devil had gathered in front of him.  
"Let's see if you can tell which two out of these imps are your mother and father", the Devil pointed at the imps. "You get only one try. If you get it right, you can all go home."

All of the imps were staring at Neville/Aaron, the boy doing the same. The ends of their tails were hidden. He was looking at them all thoroughly, carefully examining them.

Mr. Chimes, on the upper floor, gulped while looking at Neville/Aaron bringing his final decision.

 

  
Neville/Aaron felt something strange. Why would he choose out of all of them? Why would someone make him do this? A simple imp could have been someone, but not someone that will love him, care about him and be there for him, in sickness and health.

 

There was something irreplaceable.  
Faith that his parents are alright.  
He only wanted the Devil to let them go.  
Nothing else.

Then Neville/Aaron looked once more.

He came to a conclusion.

  
He shook his head in denial then addressed the Devil.

"Uncle, something's wrong", he said. "None of these imps are my parents."

  
The Devil gazed at him and smiled.

"Is that _REALLY_ your final answer?", he asked temptingly.

Neville/Aaron bit his lip and nodded firmly. "Mhm."

  
Instantly, the signature on the contract reverted back to Neville. The contract exploded and was gone!

  
Imps instantly shapeshifted to common workers of the casino, all with their original forms in casino uniforms.  
"Whoa, you got it!", they congratulated in unison, smiling.

The crowd went insanely happy, everyone screaming wild cheers of happiness. Neville did it! He saved himself and his parents from the Devil! The boy was bombed with cheers and congratulations.  
" **YES!!! YOU GOT IT!!!** ", Mr. Wheezy yelled.  
" **HE GOT IT!!!** ", Arin added.  
The two hugged wildly and even fell on the floor in this madness.  
" **YA MADE IT, MAN!** ", Chips shouted.  
" **YOU DID IT!!!** ", Bendy jumped with happiness.

"Thank you, everyone!", Neville shouted.

"Alright, alright, you win, now get out of my sight!", the Devil said.

Neville frowned a bit, but not before smiling and shaking hands with him.

"Thanks for everything, uncle!", Neville politely said.  
The Devil was slightly confused, but still... "Eh, y-you're welcome...", he replied.

Neville ran towards the door.  
"Goodbye everyone! Thank you!"

The crowd was waving their farewells at Neville as the boy, gleaming with success, charged at the door.  
"Goodbye!"  
"Come see us soon!", they shouted.

King Dice smiled at Neville and held his hand out.

"Dice!", Neville exclaimed.  
"Let's go!", the man replied, and dashed through the door.

 

  
A moment later, they were running down the staircase of casino's entrance.

"But where are my parents?", Neville asked.  
"When you passed the test, they woke up by the exit of the cavern! They're there now."

Once they stepped on warm cavern floor, Dice stopped. Neville looked at him.  
"I can't go any further", Dice said.

He looked at Neville.  
"Listen to me. Go back the same way you came. Promise me you won't look back, not until you leave the cavern completely!"

"But, Dice, what about you?", Neville asked.  
"I'll have a talk with the Devil. I can't really leave my service... but I can do something about the rights I have in his world", Dice replied.  
"Will we... meet again someday?", the boy asked with a look of hope.  
"I am sure."

Dice gently let go of Neville's hand and pat his back.  
"Now go. And don't look back", he told him.  
"Goodbye!", Neville waved.

 

Neville began running towards the end of the cavern. He didn't dare to break the promise of not looking back. Getting out and being free again was the only option now.  
He stopped near the end of the cavern when a voice called his name.

"Neville!", the voice called. It was his mother, Tanya Montgomery.

Alexander was next to her, waving to Neville. The boy couldn't describe his joy of seeing his parents again.  
"Where have you been? Hurry up!", Tanya said.

Neville finally reached his parents.  
"Mom, dad?", he said.  
"You shouldn't run off like that...", his mother said calmly.  
"Let's go, we don't want anything bad to happen", father added, leaving for the exit.

Neville stopped for a moment, slowly turning his head around, wanting to take a small look back... maybe it wouldn't be so bad...  
No. He has seen enough of this world. It was time to leave.

  
Neville ran after them through the exit.

 

  
"Watch your step, guys", Alexander said to Neville and his mother, then continued walking.  
"Honey, don't lean on me like that, we'll both fall", mother said slightly pushing Neville away from leaning on her.

The very way they got into all of this was coming back to life.

 

They finally got out of the cavern. Alexander gazed at his car.

The car was somehow covered in many branches, leaves and some dust, as if it was aging with the trees by the road.  
"Why... would you look at that!", he exclaimed, running at his car.  
"What's wrong?", Tanya asked.  
"All these branches and leaves, I guess...", he replied, cleaning some off the car. He opened one of the windows and peeked inside. "Let's not mention the inside of the car."

While his parents examined the car and talked to each other what might have happened, Neville looked into the cavern one last time.

  
The inside was pitch black.

 

The same old "CASINO ENTRANCE" sign.

  
The same old "TRY ⭐ YOUR ⭐ LUCK""sign.

  
The same old cave he saw for the first time.

 

. . .

  
Was it all getting over here?

"Come on, Neville! Time to go", mother called him.  
"You ain't scared, are you?", father asked in a friendly way, turning on the car.  
"Don't worry, it will all be alright!", mom said.

Neville nodded confidently and ran towards the car. He opened the door, got in and closed the door. He sat on the back without fear and grabbed his gift basket. It was time for a new beginning.

  
Alexander turned the car on, made a little turn and finally they were all back on track towards the new home. The road was a little bumpy at first, but it was getting more and more smooth.

 

While crossing the bridge near the theatre, Neville's father struck up a short conversation.

"Though...", he rubbed his chin in a thinking manner. "New home, beginning to work... It is a bit scary, don't you think?"

Neville smiled confidently.

"Don't worry, I can handle it! I will still have my ups and downs, but giving up is something I won't let happen."

 

 

  
**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HGDUSDHSAGDAHSFDGAHADGHDSAHJDGASDHAGSDASGJDA
> 
> I would like to say that I am thanking all of you. Whoever decided to embark on this journey of reading my fan-fiction. I did lose some motivation to write compared to a few years ago, but even then, I decided not to give up. Never!
> 
> For reading all the chapters only to arrive here, the grand finale, here is a daily reminder: YOU ALL ARE AMAZING!!! <3
> 
> What now?  
> Well, yes, I will still write, but I should gather some ideas beforehand. While making this fan-fiction (when half was complete, the end of August) I decided to do something quite similar with the story of "My Neighbor Totoro". Maybe I will do it during the winter break?
> 
> Love you all! See you soon!


End file.
